Category Archives: School / University

NOTE – Residence Hall, Dormitory, and Fraternity-Sorority is included under Residential Category

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Eunice, LA – Sprinkler system activates to help control classroom fire at elementary school

Officials with the St. Landry Parish School Board have announced that Eunice Elementary will be closed tomorrow Wednesday, August 15 due to this morning’s fire.  The school board says that safety assessment procedures will be ongoing tomorrow at the school. All 12-month employees will be required to report to work and the principal will contact staff members to let them know when or if they should report to work on Wednesday.  The closure only affects Eunice Elementary. All other schools will report as normal tomorrow.

Officials say the cause of this morning’s fire at Eunice Elementary School is still under investigation. The fire caused the school to be closed on Tuesday to all students and teachers. The school board noted that all 12-month employees should report to work as usual today.  One custodian was in the school at the time of the fire and noticed flames coming from the classroom. That individual was able to exit the building safely.  One classroom and a majority of the supplies inside are a complete loss, according to Principal Mary Dupre.  Flooding caused by the sprinkler system has also damaged the building where the fire took place.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Rolla, MO – Fire in university laboratory suppressed by sprinkler system; No injuries and damage limited

Crews are cleaning up today after a small fire broke out in a second-floor laboratory in McNutt Hall on the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus.  The fire started at about 8:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 13, and automatically triggered the building’s sprinkler system. The sprinkler system suppressed the fire, and Rolla firefighters extinguished the remaining fire. The lab was not occupied at the time, and no one was injured.  Damage was confined to a desk area with no fire damage to the building. Due to the activation of the sprinkler system, there was isolated water damage.  Because of the water damage and cleanup, S&T closed the north section of the second floor of McNutt Hall until cleanup is completed.  The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but investigators have not found anything suspicious related to this fire.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

La Crosse, WI – Residence hall fire contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The La Crosse Fire Department responded to a fire call at 6:47 p.m. Thursday evening at UW La Crosse Eagle Hall.  An investigation revealed that an electrical fan malfunctioned directly below a sprinkler head, fire officials said.  The sprinkler contained the fire and crews were able to search the building and ventilate the smoke.  According to the press release, the fire and smoke damage was minimal.  No injuries were reported.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Providence, RI – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling elementary classroom fire

A classroom at Vartan Gregorian Elementary School on Wickenden Street sustained major damage in a fire Wednesday morning, officials said.  Providence fire officials said no civilians or firefighters were hurt in the blaze, which came in at about 9:35 a.m. Five staff members were in the building, but were unharmed, fire officials said.  The fire, which is not considered suspicious, took about 45 minutes to get under control, according to fire officials. The sprinkler system was going off in the room when firefighters arrived.  The classroom where the fire took place was badly damaged, and other rooms had some smoke and water damage, according to fire officials.  School district administrators have told fire officials that the incident shouldn’t affect the start of the school year.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Meridian, ID – (no media coverage) Single sprinkler puts out fire in high school gym caused by combustion of oily rags

<No Media Coverage – Fire Department Reported> A single sprinkler head extinguished a fire in the Rocky Mountain High School gym late on the night of July 28th. The fire, caused by improperly discarded oily rags from a gym floor refinishing project, activated the sprinkler and alarm system. Meridian Fire Department responded, and found smoke in the entryway of the gym. They were able to stop the water flow and prevent substantial water damage to the newly-refinished gym floor. “The sprinkler did its job,” reported Joe Bongiorno, Meridian Fire Dept. Fire Marshal. “A single head put the fire out.”

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Suquamish, WA – Sprinkler system keeps arson fire in check at elementary school; No injuries reported

 North Kitsap Fire & Rescue crews responded to a fire at Squamish Elementary School at 11:51 p.m. Wednesday night that officials say was the result of someone setting a couch on fire just outside the school.

Squamish Elementary School is part of the North Kitsap School district and is located at 8950 Park Blvd NE, Suquamish, WA 98392.

Arriving firefighter crews found heavy smoke at the scene, water flowing from the sprinkler system, but no flames. 

“About 100 square feet of the building’s exterior finish was blackened. School officials believe that the couch, which was destroyed in the incident, was dumped by unknown person(s) in or near the building’s dumpster,” North Kitsap Fire & Rescue said in a news release. 

A fire investigation of the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene and determined the fire was intentionally set. 

Officials say no firefighters or civilians were injured in the fire. 

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Rice at (360) 337-5777.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

New Caney, TX – Sprinkler system contained fire at school to one classroom; No injuries reported

Summer activities at a New Caney ISD school will be delayed Friday after an overnight fire.

Just before midnight, emergency crews were dispatched to Porter High School in regards to an alarm call.

Upon arrival, firefighters say the sprinkler system had contained the fire in a cosmetology classroom but there was still heavy smoke inside the building.

First responders even arrived with an airboat to assist in getting the smoke out.

There are a couple of events, including band practice that will be delayed.

The school year’s starting date was not affected. The first day of school is August 20.

According to authorities, no one was hurt during the fire.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Concord, MA – High school fire caused by malfunctioning electrical equipment with fish tank is contained by sprinkler system

A fire started in Concord-Carlisle Regional High School the morning of Tuesday, July 31 at approximately 5:40, according to district spokesman Tom Lucey.  Members of the Concord Fire Department and the state fire marshal were still investigating the incident, but the officials suspect electrical equipment associated with a fish tank caused the fire.  Lucey said the fire was contained quickly by the school’s sprinkler system and only one room was damaged by the fire. The Concord Fire Department arrived shortly after to make sure the fire was out and the area was safe.  Water damage from the sprinklers was more extensive, affecting 12 classrooms on the third and fourth floors and the school’s gymnasium.  No one was believed to be injured as a result of the fire, according to Lucey, who said he believed the building was empty when the fire started.

While the school is still assessing the damage, Lucey said the fire was unlikely to change the start of the school year, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 29.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Richland, WA – Stove top fire at elementary school contained by sprinkler system

A small fire in Richland’s newest school, Jefferson Elementary, won’t stop the doors opening Aug. 28.

A stove in the school’s life skills room was accidentally left on Tuesday, and set some paper on fire, Battalion Chief Mike Wroolie told the Herald.

Some neighbors noticed the fire and called 911 about 9:30 p.m.

Luckily, the nearly $17 million school’s sprinkler system was working as well and helped contain the fire to the stove top. Some nearby cabinets were scorched, but the fire didn’t spread any farther.

Richland School District is still assessing the damage from the fire and the water to the new school along George Washington Way.

The building is the final school being built as part of a 2013 bond. The 65,000-square-foot school can house 630 students when it’s finished this fall.

According to a post on the district’s Facebook page, the damage will not prevent the building from opening for the start of school. Photos on the district’s website show a building that is nearly finished.

Officials thanked the school’s neighbors who spotted the blaze.

The oldest part of the school was built in 1953 and was demolished as part of the project. The 1982 addition is becoming the district’s preschool center.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Columbia, SC – Electrical fire at Coliseum extinguished by sprinkler system

The University of South Carolina’s Carolina Coliseum was damaged in a fire Thursday morning.

Firefighters responded to an alarm at around 10:15 a.m. after a construction worker cut through a live wire he believed was turned off, causing electricity to arc and start a small fire, said Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins.

Nobody, including the worker who cut through the live wire, was injured, and by the time firefighters responded, the building’s sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, Jenkins said.

Jenkins called the fire “very minimal.” 

A commercial-size dryer at the 12,000-seat arena — which predominantly serves as a practice facility for the university’s basketball teams and houses the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management — was damaged, Jenkins said.

Though the building had smoke in it when firefighters arrived, the smoke did not cause damage to the building. It did, however, receive minor water damage from the sprinklers being activated.

Before Colonial Life Arena opened in 2002, basketball games and big concerts had been held at Carolina Coliseum since 1968. USC committed to renovating the building in 2017.