Category Archives: School / University

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

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Palm Coast, FL – Student arson fire in elementary school bathroom extinguished by sprinkler system

Due to a small fire in a bathroom in Building No. 2, students at Rymfire were evacuated, but they returned to classrooms on the other side of the campus.  At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Friday, May 18, the fire alarm at Rymfire Elementary School was activated and all students were evacuated. It was determined a student had set fire to a paper towel dispenser located in Building No. 2. The sprinkler system kept flames to the single bathroom.

With the threat of severe weather in the area, the buildings on the other side of campus were determined safe and all students were then moved into those rooms, as well as the gymnasiums. There were no injuries during this incident.

Crews with the Palm Coast Fire Department, as well as Flagler Schools Custodial, are in the process of clearing the area of water and getting classrooms cleaned, and students are returning to their classes. Students in the kindergarten and first-grade classrooms are being moved to alternate rooms at this time so that instruction can continue.  Flagler Schools does not anticipate this having a major impact on dismissal at 3:20 p.m. All after-school activities are still taking place.  School cleanup crews will work throughout the weekend to ensure the affected classrooms will be ready for students Monday.

In an email, Palm Coast Communications and Marketing Manager Cindi Lane said Fire Chief Mike Beadle said: “Fire is out by sprinklers, and we are on scene assisting with water damage. Situation under control.”

Other - School / University, School / University

Lewisville, TX – Fire in sawdust collector at career center is suppressed by sprinkler system

The Dale Jackson Career Center in Lewisville on Edmonds Lane was evacuated Wednesday after a fire broke out in a sawdust collection system on the south side of the building.  Students and staff were all evacuated safely, according to a parent email sent out by Randall Holder, the principal of the campus.  Assistant fire chief Mark McNeal said the fire triggered a sprinkler system that muted its effect.  Units from Lewisville and Flower Mound fire departments fought the blaze.

Update -12:10 p.m.: Principal Randall Holder sent the following parent notice:

Dear Dale Jackson Parents,

We wanted to follow up with you about the situation at Dale Jackson Career Center.

Please know all of our students and staff safely evacuated the building this morning due to a fire at the back of the campus. All students are back at their home campuses and Dale Jackson classes have been canceled for the remainder of the day

Currently, we are waiting on the fire department to deem the building safe for students and staff to retrieve their vehicles and belongings. We will notify you as soon as this happens.

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Thank you,
Randall Holder
Principal

Update 2 p.m.: Holder sent another update:

We wanted to share the following update with you.

At this time, students will not be allowed back in the building for the remainder of the day, but they may pick up their vehicles if they are able to.

All classes will resume a normal schedule tomorrow, however, the Mill and Cabinetmaking class will be moved to a different classroom in the building.

If it is an absolute emergency and a student must retrieve their belongings from inside DJCC today, the building will remain open until 6 p.m. However, students are encouraged to email their DJCC teacher to make these arrangements. Law enforcement will be present on campus throughout the night to ensure the security of the building.

We are proud of the way our students and staff handled this disruption to their school day, and we are extremely grateful our first responders arrived so quickly.

Please know the safety and security of our students and staff are my top priority here at Dale Jackson.

Thank you for your patience and continued support of our campus.

Randall Holder
Principal​​​​​​​

Update 4:34 p.m.:  The fire started when the woodworking class’ tablesaw kicked up embers, which fell into the sawdust collection tanks and turned into a full-on blaze. The class used their fire extinguisher on the tablesaw, but could not reach into the tanks.

McNeal said firefighting crews were nervous that opening the tanks would cause a dust explosion, so they opened vents into the sawdust system to allow smoke to dissipate. This is what lead to such a drawn-out, visible fight. McNeal said nobody was hurt.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Mason, OH – Daytime fire at high school that started in classroom dust collector is extinguished by sprinkler system

A small fire at Mason High School caused students and the attached community center to evacuate around noon on Tuesday. Classes and all after-school activities were canceled for the rest of the day, and 3600 students were sent home. “The dust collector in our computer aided design, or CAD classes, is where the fire started. Thankfully no injuries, no one was hurt, but it did create quite a bit of smoke,” Mason Schools spokeswoman Tracey Carson said.

The fire activated the school’s sprinkler system and was extinguished quickly, Carson said, but afterward there were elevated levels of carbon monoxide. Students said smoke filled the hallways quickly. “I was walking back from lunch, and I was going to my next bell’s class, and all the doors shut, so I was like, ‘Why are they shutting, maybe we’re just having a fire drill,’ and then it smelled really bad, and I saw a ton of fog, and I ran outside,” student Natalie Mishu said. “I was at the top level, and I was walking down the stairs, and I started to smell it more, and it was just full of smoke down there,” student Jacob Nusser said.

Students who were in the CAD classroom said classmates and their teacher acted immediately. They said someone pulled the fire alarm while others grabbed fire extinguishers. “Our teacher was very good at handling the situation,” student Elric Nijakowski said. “Yes, he was very prepared,” student Eric Vermillion said. No injuries were reported. By 4 p.m. the district was given the all clear.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Clinton, IL – Sprinkler system prevents kitchen fire from spreading at high school; No injuries reported

The Clinton Fire Department responded to a fire alarm that was set off at Clinton Junior High School on Monday night.

Fire officials were called to the scene just after 9 p.m. on Monday night.

When fire crews arrived, they found smoke and a small fire in the kitchen. According to Clinton Fire officials, the sprinkler system was set off which helped to prevent the fire from spreading.

The flames were put out and the school was turned back over to staff to clean the area.

No injuries were reported.

Other - School / University

Downington, PA – Fire at STEM Academy contained to science lab with help from sprinkler system

Downingtown STEM Academy reopened last Tuesday after a Monday night fire closed the building down on Monday.  The incident occurred Monday night at some point before 9 p.m., authorities said.  More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene of the blaze, which was described as “small.” The fire was contained to the fume hood in the science prep room, according to Superintendent Emilie M. Lonardi.  There was no fire or smoke damage done to the school, officials added. Six computers were damaged by water from the sprinkler system, and two engineering rooms of the basement floor suffered some water damage.  Staff cleaned up the water on Sunday night. A hired restoration crew of 52 technicians spent the next 24 hours working to make the school ready for classes on Tuesday.  No injuries were reported in the incident.

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

Indiana, PA – Overnight dorm room fire put out by sprinkler system; Vape stick apparent cause

No injuries were reported in a dorm room fire late Wednesday on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus.  “The sprinkler system put it out, we didn’t have to,” Indiana Fire Association Assistant Chief Mike Empfield said this morning about the 11:22 p.m. call to Wallwork Hall, 455 Pratt Drive.  According to an Indiana Fire Association Facebook post, IUP police were first on the scene and reported a haze of smoke, and that the sprinkler had activated.

“(The) fire was started in the corner of a bed by what appears to be a vape stick,” according to the fire company’s post. “Damage was limited to smoke and heat by the bed and water damage from the sprinkler.”  Empfield said water damage was reported down a hallway of the dormitory.  “We shut the sprinkler system off and did a little ventilation,” the assistant fire chief said.  IUP police evacuated the building. Indiana County’s hazardous materials Team 900 and Citizens’ Ambulance Service also were dispatched.  Those called to the scene included IFA’s Ladder 106 unit whose seven-member interior firefighting crew includes five IUP students.  All crews were back in their stations shortly after midnight.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Lacey Township, NJ – Fire at middle school knocked down by sprinkler system; Terrarium possible cause

Firefighters and other first responders put out a fire at Lacey Township Middle School Tuesday. Nobody was hurt, according to school officials, and police said students had not even arrived at school when the fire broke out.

“The Middle School experienced an isolated small fire this morning in a second-floor classroom while the building was unoccupied activating the fire suppression system,” according to a Facebook post from the township public school district.

Township police issued a statement later in the day.  The fire “may have started in a terrarium within the classroom,” wrote police Capt. Patrick Ganley.

Firefighters from the Forked River and Lanoka Harbor volunteer fire companies knocked down the fire, and “minimal fire and smoke damage was reported, however as a result of the sprinkler system activation, there was a significant amount of water in the classroom and the surrounding areas that needed to be cleaned,” Ganley said

Staff and students from the middle school instead reported to the gymnasium at the Lacey Township High School on the same campus, according to police and school officials. Middle school students were dismissed early.

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

Keene, NH – Sprinkler system puts out fire in college residence hall

Firefighters say a small fire in a Keene State College dorm room was put out by a sprinkler system.  The fire department was dispatched shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday to the Pondside 1 Dormitory. There was no one in the room at the time of the fire. The cause and origin are being investigated. Damage is estimated at $10,000.  The three-story, 57-unit building houses 100 students and staff.

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

Boston, MA – Residence hall fire at Boston College contained with help from sprinkler system, No injuries reported

A fire broke out on the fourth floor of Welch Hall shortly after midnight last Tuesday morning. The fire was most likely due to a small refrigerator experiencing an electrical issue, according to Eric Fricke, a spokesman for the City of Newton Fire Department.

While the none of the room’s residents were injured, they will be relocated to a different room for the remainder of the year due to the damage the fire caused.

A number of rooms on the third and fourth floors experienced water damage because the sprinkler system activated, causing several dozen residents to be temporarily relocated. Overnight housing was provided to six Boston College students.

“Throughout the day, Facilities Services has worked to dry out the affected rooms using dehumidifiers and fans,” University Spokesman Jack Dunn said in an email. “They expect that all students, except those in the room where the fire started, will be able to return to their rooms by this evening.”

Investigators are still determining the reason that the fridge caught fire. Fricke said the refrigerator, which was placed under one of the residents’ beds and was not originally distributed by BC, caught on fire either because it was overfilled, leaving it without “room to breathe,” or because it short-circuited.

Welch residents were forced to wait outside shortly after the fire alarm went off. After a while, they were moved to McElroy Commons. Because the fire activated the sprinkler system, students were not allowed to return to Welch until 3 a.m. When one of the sprinkler heads goes off, the sprinkler company has to replace it, causing the students to be kept away from their dorms for a prolonged period of time.

A burnt bed frame, destroyed mattress, television, and mini fridge were outside of Welch this morning. Glass appeared to be missing from several of the top-floor windows. Fricke said that the windows may have cracked due to the heat of the fire, or firefighters breaking the windows for ventilation.

Fricke sees this incident as a teachable moment for students, which should encourage them to practice safety. He noted that improperly using power strips often causes fires on college campuses. “College students are kind of [unaware of risks],” Fricke said. “What ends up happening is they don’t appreciate the dangers.”

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Jasper, OR – Small fire at Seventh-day Adventist school extinguished by sprinkler system

1 Comment

Officials are investigating the cause of a small fire on Wednesday that led to water damage in Laurelwood Academy southeast of Springfield.  Pleasant Hill and Goshen Fire Districts were called to the private secondary school about 5 p.m. Wednesday for a report of smoke coming from the building. The school, affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is on Jasper Lowell Road.  Firefighters discovered smoke coming from the third floor and found that the school’s fire sprinklers had extinguished a small fire on that floor, Pleasant Hill-Goshen Fire Chief Andrew Smith said.  The Lane County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police are helping in the investigation to determine the fire’s cause.