Category Archives: School / University

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

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

West Palm Beach, FL – Fire at high school is kept from spreading by sprinkler system; Fire started in an appliance

A “small” fire at Forest Hill High School Sunday night triggered the sprinkler system and prompted West Palm Beach Fire Department to dispatch crews to the campus. In the end, some classrooms in one building suffered water damage, according to a call that went to parents this morning. Classes will be shuffled to other rooms on the West Palm Beach campus, but school will continue as scheduled.

According to the call, a water mitigation company began the clean up work at midnight and will be there for the coming days. Sounds like the school’s band, chorus and drama classes will be feeling the pinch. The call reports that band and chorus classes will meet instead in the school auditorium.

“Drama will be located in our lobby.” Imagining that’s a reference to the class.

Update: Principal Mary Stratos says that it appears an appliance was the source of the fire that happened Sunday night. That small fire triggered the school’s sprinkler system and also brought out the fire department – and this morning she is singing their praises.

“What an unbelievable group,” Stratos said. “They went far and beyond.” Authorities aren’t sure how or why the appliance caught fire (no detail yet on which appliance, but think coffee machine, microwave or such), but they are reviewing school video for clues, Stratos said.

Most of the damage is water damage that is in a couple of rooms including the band room, where a wall must be removed. Mitigation crews had removed the water by Monday morning, but the smell of smoke and burned plastic still hung in the air, prompted Stratos to close the building for now and relocate classes.

“We’ve put in new charcoal filters and air cleaners, so I just have to wait for those things to do what they’re supposed to do,” Stratos said.

Meanwhile, the school schedule is moving forward including students taking the computer-based Florida Standards Assessments for Engli

 

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Enderby, BC, Canada – Sprinklers activate in suspicious fire at secondary school

It’s back to school Tuesday for high school students at A.L. Fortune Secondary in Enderby following a fire in the girls’ washroom.

About 250 students and teachers were evacuated around noon on Friday after the fire broke out and caused overhead sprinklers to come on. The fire is considered suspicious.

A restoration company was called in immediately after the fire was doused to clean up the mess. However, reparation work forced the school to remain closed on Monday.

“We are pleased to have our students and staff returning to the important learning that takes place at A.L. Fortune every day,” said Carl Cooper, director of instruction.

Not all the classrooms will be open tomorrow. Cooper said one wing of the school will remain closed for a few more days, including a couple of classrooms, for construction of a new wall after asbestos was discovered in the mud used for drywall.

“Since the washroom and one classroom wall were damaged by fire and water, and the mud was no longer encapsulated, an environmental services company, Apex EHS Services, was brought in to assess the hazardous materials,” said Alice Hucul, spokeswoman for School District 83. “The asbestos was removed on Monday to WorkSafe B.C. standards. Air quality was monitored throughout.”

The district has been unable to supply an estimate of damage caused by the fire.

The RCMP continue to investigate the incident.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Doylestown, PA – Fire at high school quickly brought under control by sprinkler system

The Doylestown Fire Company responded to a small fire Wednesday morning at Central Bucks West. No injuries were reported. The Doylestown Fire Company responded to a small fire Wednesday morning at Central Bucks West, the fire company announced on Facebook. The fire was brought under control quickly by a sprinkler, the fire company said via Facebook. No injuries were reported. The fire caused minor damage.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Newark, DE – Fire in University of Delaware science laboratory controlled with help from sprinkler system

University of Delaware Police responded to a fire alarm after 5 a.m. this morning and found flames. The fire department responded and the scene was secured. The sprinkler system activated, so there is water in the building as well as some smoke damage.

The second floor of Du Pont Hall’s west wing remains closed this morning, Wednesday, April 6, while clean up is under way after a minor fire in a materials science laboratory. The east wing of Du Pont Hall is now open, as are the first and third floors of the west wing. The second floor of the west wing remains closed.

Facilities staff are on scene assisting with the clean up. 

No one was injured in the incident.  

Primary / Secondary School

Mexico, MO – Overnight fire in utility closet at Catholic school extinguished by sprinkler system

At approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday, Mexico Department of Public Safety was called to St. Brendan School on Clark Street. Officers arriving on the scene found light smoke and evidence of the sprinkler system having activated.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that cardboard boxes in a utility room had been ignited by the water heater. The sprinklers had extinguished the small fire. There was very little damage from fire or smoke and there were no injuries. The fire did not cause any damage to the main building of the school.

St. Brendan Principal Kathy Coulson said students would be bringing their lunches for a few days so the school’s kitchen and gymnasium areas, which are near the storage room in which the fire started, could be cleaned of some smoke. Coulson said the school’s sprinkler system will also be replaced in the near future

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Charlotte, NC – Clothes dryer fire in middle school locker room is contained by sprinkler system

Practice made perfect for the student body of Randolph Middle Thursday morning; the school had two fire alarms: the first one was a drill, the second which occurred about an hour later, was real.

“We received additional calls from CMPD we had a fire in a room attached to the gym, flames in the room, the fire was upgraded. Once firefighters arrived on the scene, had light smoke showing,” said Captain Jackie Gilmore of the Charlotte Fire Department.

Firefighters said that some flammable items like cloth or paper had been left on a running drier and caught fire. “This fire did not get into the school, smoke did not get into any part of the structure.”

A working sprinkler system contained the fire, there was no structure damage. “This was part of a locker room to a back hallway, so all the smoke was contained and the fire department checked the building and said we were clear to go back in,” said Principal Brian Bambauer.

Fire officials said the timing of the drill was perfect and that the students learned first hand how important it is to know what to do in an emergency. Two employees suffered minor smoke inhalation and were treated at the school; there were no other injuries.  Investigators have labeled the incident an accident.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Columbia, MD – Dryer fire in high school locker room contained by sprinkler system

Emergency crews responded to a Howard County school Tuesday morning after a fire broke out in a dryer in the locker room.

According to Howard County Fire and EMS, they were told there was fire in the locker room at Oakland Mills High School around 7:30 a.m.

The fire originated in the dryer and stayed confined to it after the sprinkler system was activated.

Crews put out the fire by 8 a.m.

Unites are currently ventilating the structure, restoring systems and making sure the school is safe for students to return.

No injuries were reported and the fire is under investigation.

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

Columbia, MO – Residence hall fire extinguished by sprinkler system; Potential disaster mitigated

A fire at a Stephens College residence hall on Saturday afternoon resulted in no injuries but caused severe water damage to several units. The Columbia Fire Department was dispatched to a fire alarm at Wood Hall, 5 S. College Ave. Firefighters at the scene found heavy smoke and water coming from a sprinkler on the fifth floor.

The officer in charge upgraded the incident from an alarm to a commercial structure fire. A total of six units responded to the incident. An investigation revealed a fire in an apartment on the fifth floor activated the building’s sprinkler system. The sprinkler extinguished the fire, which didn’t spread to other units. The fire department is still investigating the cause of the fire. No damage estimates were available as of 5 p.m. Saturday.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Cambridge, ON, Canada – Fire at high school extinguished by sprinkler system

Fire crews were called to Preston High School shortly after 1 p.m., after being notified of fire alarms going off inside the building. When they arrived, they found that the school had been evacuated.

According to Cambridge Fire Department platoon Chief Brad Churchill, crews entered the building to find that its sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, but heavy smoke persisted in a corridor and stairwell at the back of the building.

One staff member was taken to hospital, to be treated for symptoms of smoke inhalation. Firefighters spent much of the afternoon at the school, ventilating the building.  After being allowed back in to pick up their belongings, students were sent home for the rest of the afternoon.

Churchill said the evacuation went off “like clockwork” because the school regularly practiced fire drills. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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

New York, NY – Early morning residence hall fire at Columbia University contained by sprinkler system; No injuries

A small fire broke out in a fifth-floor suite of Elliott Hall at 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, with water damage from the sprinkler response affecting rooms on the second through fifth floors of the building.

After students were evacuated from the building following the sounding of the first alarm early Sunday morning, the Diana Center was opened for residents of Elliott Hall to wait in while the building was inspected by Public Safety, according to a resident assistant in Elliott Hall.

The building was cleared for students to re-enter at around 3:30 a.m., but due to the sprinkler system’s response to the fire, the rooms immediately adjacent to the source, as well as the ones located several floors below it experienced flooding. A Barnard spokesperson confirmed that some administrative offices and hallway carpeting were affected by water damage.

According to the RA, who wished to remain anonymous because RAs are prohibited by Residential Life to speak to the press, the flooding was caused by the sprinkler in the source room and not by multiple sprinklers.

Residents living on the fifth floor near the room where the fire began said that aside from some smoke and ash in their rooms, they experienced no significant damage.

The RA said that there was a second fire alert after the building was reopened, but that they thought that it had to do with the alert system and was not indicative of a second fire. It did, however, drive some students from the building for the night.

Fifth-floor resident Maya Edwards, BC ’17, said that, although she did not leave for the night, she knew of students who left to stay with friends in other buildings.

Although Barnard’s emergency alert notification system was not used for the fire, the RA said that they didn’t think that was a problem.

“I feel like it was very contained so I feel like it wasn’t the same magnitude as in the 600s,” the RA said, referencing last year’s fire in 600 West 116th Street.

Facilities is still working to address the problems caused by the flooding, but the building is fully operational, a Barnard spokesperson confirmed