NOTE – Residence Hall, Dormitory, and Fraternity-Sorority is included under Residential Category
The sprinkler system put out the fire and the building was safely evacuated. There were no injuries reported.
The building was briefly closed to be ventilated and assessed for water damage, and has now been cleared and reopened by the Hamilton Fire Department.
Superintendent Brian Bailey said the student will be held accountable for their actions.
The school’s sprinkler system put out the fire, but smoke spread throughout the building. There was also water damage on the first and second floors. The school was evacuated, and the building was closed on Wednesday for cleaning by a fire remediation team.
The bathroom where the fire occurred and the bathroom immediately below it will remain closed as cleaning and repairs continue.
Classes were cancelled Thursday after a fire broke out before the school day started, the Pacific Rim School District said. The school has about 1,300 students in Grades 8 through 12.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Staff and the few students on site escaped the building without incident and the situation was quickly brought under control, the district said.
The school’s water-suppression system activated immediately and the Port Alberni Fire Department was at the scene within minutes.
Fire Chief Mike Owens said the fire appears to have started in a classroom space adjacent to the school’s auto mechanics area.
Owens said the fire damage was confined to the classroom of origin.
“A lot of the fire was knocked down by the sprinkler system, so there was quite a bit of water involved,” he said.
He said the school is a concrete structure, so it handled the water better than a wooden building would have.
Fire investigators remained on scene through Thursday morning.
The building was closed for the remainder of the day to allow for cleanup.
Port Alberni firefighters received assistance at the fire from the Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department and the Cherry Creek Fire Department.
The school district said it was “deeply grateful” for the quick response from the fire departments, “as well as the quick actions of our staff in ensuring everyone’s safety and minimizing damage.”
Crews were called to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology over the weekend for a small fire.
On Sunday, the Terre Haute Fire Department responded to the college and found light smoke coming from a building on campus.
Fire officials said by the time crews made it inside, students had already used three fire extinguishers and the building’s sprinkler system to put out the flames.
The fire started in a grinding and sanding booth and was ruled accidental. No one was hurt.
At 8:55 p.m., Wednesday, January 15, the Macomb Fire Department was dispatched to a water flow alarm at Grote Hall, 720 W Adams Street on the campus of Western Illinois University (WIU) in Macomb.
While enroute, the WIU Office of Public Safety (OPS) advised that they had smoke and flames in room 410. The first arriving units arrived on scene at 9:01 p.m. and began high-rise standpipe operations. Fire command made contact with OPS who had discharged two fire extinguishers on the fire.
The interior firefighting crew stretched a hose line to the fire room and finished extinguishing the fire. The fire was contained to a waste basket in the room.
The fire activated a sprinkler within the closet of the room and kept the fire from spreading. Multiple rooms sustained smoke and water damage and at least two residents were displaced.
Four on-duty firefighters responded to the call and nine additional firefighters responded to a crew callback. Emmet- Chalmers and Good Hope Fire Departments responded to the scene and assisted with primary searches of the building.
The fire was deemed under control at 9:12 PM. All units cleared at 11:21 p.m. One firefighter was transported to a local hospital for observation and was treated and released.
A smoke alarm was present in the room, however, did not alarm due to the device being obstructed by the resident. Once the sprinkler system activated the water flow alarm notified OPS dispatch of the fire.
The structure sustained fire, smoke, and water damage throughout and has an estimated loss of $20,000. The fire was investigated by the Macomb Fire Department and WIU OPS. The fire was deemed unintentional due to improper disposal of ignited materials.
The Macomb Fire Department wants to again remind citizens that smoke detectors are essential safety devices that play a crucial role in protecting lives and property by providing early warning of smoke or fire. Tampering with smoke detectors can lead to criminal charges.
The following agencies assisted: McDonough County Communications Center, Macomb IL Police, WIU OPS, WIU Support Staff, Lifeguard Ambulance Service of Illinois, Emmet- Chalmers FPD, Good Hope FPD, and the City of Macomb Public Works.
Dutch Fork Fire Rescue units responded to Spring Hill High School Tuesday after a dryer caught fire.
According to the school, the fire happened around 10 a.m. when a dryer in the kitchen area caught fire and activated the sprinkler system.
Firefighters said the fire was contained in the dryer at the back of the school.
Administrators at the school confirmed all students and staff were evacuated and they are accounted for.
No injuries were reported.
Units are working on removing the dryer and ventilating the building.
About 9:23 a.m., fire alarms were triggered near the woodshop of Glenbrook South High School, leading the building’s fire suppression and sprinkler system to be activated, the school posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
While the school initially said that students and staff were being allowed back into the building after being evacuated, it later said students would be dismissed after a “large amount of water” in the building had impacted school events.
“School is canceled for the rest of the day and students will be dismissed using a tiered system,” the school said.
In a 11:16 a.m. Facebook post, the school confirmed that all students had been dismissed.
According to the school, Monday morning’s fire alarm took place during “School Emergency Preparedness Week.”
No further details surrounding the circumstances of the incident were released. Glenbrook South High School did not immediately respond to NBC Chicago’s request for comment.
According to the Houston School District, Warner Robins Hih School Principal Chris McCook notified parents of the incident by phone and email and said it happened overnight.
He said at around 12:30 a.m. a person broke into the school and started a small fire in the multi-purpose room, immediately setting off the overhead sprinkler system and alerting the fire department.
McCook told parents the fire was contained, did minimal damage to the building and thanked fire crews for promptly responding.
“I am grateful to the fire department for their quick response and our maintenance staff who worked during the night to make sure the school was ready for students to arrive this morning,” said McCook. “Law enforcement has also been on campus to gather evidence necessary to find the individual responsible.”
WGXA has reached out to the Warner Robins Police Department and has yet to hear back.
State Fire Marshal investigation found the fire was accidental and began in a janitorial closet after the spontaneous combustion of rags used for cleaning.
Damage was estimated at about $2000.
Sprinkler System Kept Nighttime Fire From Growing
A nighttime electrical fire in an academic building on Washington and Lee University’s campus last week was quickly contained by the building’s fire suppression system, and extinguished by the Lexington Fire Department.
“At approximately 1:15 a.m. on Thursday, April 25, a small electrical fire occurred in a third-floor bathroom in Reid Hall, which was unoccupied at the time,” said Drewry Sackett, university spokesperson.
Reid Hall is home to the university’s journalism and mass communication departments.
“The sprinkler system was activated, the fire department responded, and the fire was extinguished quickly,” she told The News-Gazette.
Dispatched around 1:15 a.m., Lexington fire crews put out the fire and turned off the sprinkler system to limit water damage to the building.
The fire was declared under control at 2:05 a.m., though firefighters remained on the scene until 3:40 a.m. to monitor and help control water damage.
Lexington Fire Chief Ty Dickerson said that the building’s fire suppression system prevented what could have been significant damage to the building.
“It is very fortunate that the building had a fire sprinkler system. That single fire sprinkler head was activated by the heat from the fire in the light fixture and was contained prior to the fire department’s arrival,” he said.
“The fire alarm connected to the fire sprinkler system activated and notified a monitoring company who notified our regional 911 center who dispatched the Lexington Fire Department,” said Dickerson.
“Without that fire sprinkler and alarm system, a fire in an unoccupied building in the middle of the night could have grown very large before being noticed,” he said.
Sackett said that the building was reopened in time to welcome students back from spring break.
“The building sustained water damage and was closed briefly for repairs,” she said.
“It reopened over the weekend, in time for Monday morning classes, and is fully operational at this time, except for the third-floor bathroom where the fire originated.”
