Category Archives: School / University

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

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Los Angeles, CA – Fire at high school extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire at San Pedro High School damaged a single classroom on Tuesday morning but was out by the time firefighters arrived at the campus.

Firefighters, shortly before 8 a.m., responded to reports of smoke and fire on the campus at 1001 W. 15th Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

They arrived to find that a sprinkler system had extinguished the fire.

Firefighters helped clean up.

There were no reported injuries, or ongoing hazards, to students or staff, fire officials said. The cause of the fire and the amount of damage it caused were under investigation.

College/University (on campus), Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant, School / University

Urbana, IL – Fire at campus restaurant held in check by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The basement of the nearly 80-year-old Illini Union at the University of Illinois campus in Urbana-Champaign has reopened after a fire forced it to close for several hours.

Chief Urbana Fire Investigators Jeremy Leevey told the (Champaign) News-Gazette that crews responded to a small fire at Einstein Bros. Bagels at about 6:15 a.m. Thursday. Leevey says the union’s sprinkler system and firefighters were able to put out the fire. He says the cause is undetermined. Leevey says the restaurant has smoke damage but the dollar loss was minimal.

The university’s Illini Alert system issued a message about 6:30 a.m. Thursday saying there was a fire at the union and to avoid or leave the area immediately.

No injuries were reported. Officials say the union is fully operational.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Princeton, NJ – Overnight fire at Princeton University extinguished by sprinkler system

A fire broke out at Fine Hall on the Princeton campus around midnight Saturday and was quickly extinguished by the sprinkler system. The building is closed as crews clean up water damage. The fire was contained to a classroom on the 12th floor. Sprinkler water runoff affected that floor and most of those below it. Classes will not be held in the building Monday and Tuesday. University officials are working to move the classes to other locations. Affected students and faculty members will be notified by email.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. A firefighter from the Princeton Fire Department needed medical assistance and was taken to a hospital and released. No one else was hurt. Other agencies responding to the fire included Kingston Fire Company, Lawrence Road Fire Department, Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, Plainsboro Fire Company, Princeton Fire Marshal, Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, and West Windsor Emergency Services. From the University, responders included the Department of Public Safety, the Facilities organization, Site Protection and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Emergency Services.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Arson fire in college classroom building is put out with help from sprinkler system

After fires prompted an evacuation at Langara College yesterday, Vancouver police have arrested and charged an individual. Prior to noon on April 1, first responders received reports of a suspicious fire at Langara College’s West 49th Avenue campus, according to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). A suspect had allegedly entered the college with improvised incendiary devices. At least two of the devices were detonated, causing fires to start, before the suspect fled. According to Cst. Jason Doucette at a VPD news conference held today (April 2), several other devices were left behind. Cst. Doucette said that the VPD’s bomb disposal unit neutralized a third device.

Cst. Doucette stated that sprinkler systems at the building did activate and the Vancouver Fire Department helped to put out the fires. Initially, all classes in the T Building (Science and Technology Building) were cancelled but around 1 p.m., the college evacuated everyone from the campus and also closed its 601 West Broadway campus. Based on information provided by the school and witnesses, the VPD identified the suspect as Nasradin Abdusamad Ali of Surrey, who is a 23-year-old student of Langara College, and alerted other local police agencies. Just after 4 p.m. on April 1, Metro Vancouver Transit Police arrested Ali in Surrey and turned him over to the VPD. Today, the VPD announced that Ali remains in custody and has been charged with one count of arson related to inhabited property and one count of possession of incendiary material. Although Langara College announced at 10:20 p.m. on April 1 that the VPD completed their sweep of the campus, the college’s West 49th Avenue campus remained closed today while the 601 West Broadway campus was reopened.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Saginaw, MI – Fire at university extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire in a Saginaw Valley State University Building Sunday, March 31 caused damage. Officials say the fire began around 7:00 a.m. in a smart podium in room 215 of Brown Hall. The fire was quickly put out by the sprinkler system, but the water from the system caused damage to both the first and second floors of the building. Both floors are currently inaccessible until further notice. The third floor was unaffected. No injuries were reported. Fire departments from Kochville and Carrollton Townships and Zilwaukee responded to the scene.

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

New Haven, CT – Overnight fire in university residence hall contained with help from sprinkler system

Two people suffered smoke inhalation after crews responded to a fire at a Southern Connecticut State University residence hall in New Haven early Tuesday morning. The New Haven Fire Department tweeted that at around 2 a.m., fire crews responded to the West Campus Residence Complex at 160 Wintergreen Avenue after a sprinkler head was activated.

Fire officials say that the fire broke out on the second floor and they believe that it started in a trash can. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation but both refused to go to the hospital.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to one room but students were evacuated from the building. Most of the students have since been allowed back into the dorm. Officials say that the sprinklers going off helped to put out the flames so smoke was more of an issue as it filled up the second floor. The incident remains under investigation.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Elnora, IN – Fire at elementary school suppressed by sprinkler system; School in session next day

Firefighters were called to North Daviess Elementary School Thursday evening. The Daviess County Sheriff’s Department reports an alarm was sounded at 6:51 p.m. at the school at 5498 E. SR 58 and the Elnora Fire Department was dispatched to the scene.

“We had a motor for an exhaust fan in an electrical closet short out, causing a small fire,” said North Daviess Superintendent Robert Bell. “The sprinkler system in the closet engaged and knocked down the fire right away.“

“We had crews in the building all night trying to get the water up and dry out the building,” said Bell. “The Elnora Fire Department went way above and beyond their duty because a lot of them stayed and helped us with the clean-up.”

Everyone was evacuated from the building during the fire and no injuries were reported. An investigator from the Indiana Fire Marshal’s Office was called in to look at the fire but there are no reports of anything suspicious. Officials say they were not able to put a dollar amount on the estimated damages.

“The crews did a really good job with the drying out and cleaning up,” said Bell. “We were able to start school as normal without any problems at all.”

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

New York, NY – Overnight fire in college residence hall extinguished by sprinkler system; Fire started in trash compactor room

At around 12:30 am last Monday night, or early Tuesday morning, a fire broke out at The Towers at CCNY, forcing all of its residents to evacuate. This event marks the second major incident this year involving the activation of the sprinkler system.

The blaring alarm woke many of the residents, who rushed to evacuate the building. Among them was Resident Assistant William Dadario. After waking up and seeing his fellow RAs post photos of flooding from the sprinklers in their group chat, he knew it was not just a drill.

He said in a brief interview, “Usually, if you get the alarm you don’t always get the [sprinkler] suppression system, just because the suppression system is only triggered when flames actually are licking the sprinkler heads themselves. So I knew it was probably something serious.”

Dadario and other residents reported seeing and smelling smoke coming from the trash chutes on the first floor. The fire appears to have originated in the compactor room, though the cause is still officially unknown.

The sprinkler system was able to extinguish the fire before it could spread, though some areas, including student’s rooms, near the area flooded in the process. Luckily, the sprinklers in the trash rooms are independent of the rest of the system for this very purpose. This specialization meant there was significantly less damage than the incident in October, where sprinkler systems were triggered in several rooms.

Meanwhile, the crowd of residents outside was growing cold and restless. In the rush to evacuate, many were unable to put on clothes appropriate for the freezing weather. Some had nothing more than light pajamas. Others were in flip-flops, lacking socks to protect themselves against the cold.

Public Safety directed everyone to take refuge in the cafés of the research buildings, anticipating a long wait for the fire department and RAs to handle the situation inside. After some time, those residents were falsely told that the doors were open and they could return to their rooms. The crowd then gathered just outside the doors until they were allowed in, nearly an hour after the evacuation began.

Inside the building, the elevators were out of order and residents took the stairs to their rooms in the 10-story dormitory. Eventually, the majority of residents were back in their rooms, and the RA team was helping those who were locked out. The bulk of the crisis was over for the night, while worries linger for those impacted by the flooding.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Wanblee, SD – Fire at school contained by sprinkler system

Classes will resume as normal on Monday morning after a fire was contained by the sprinkler system at at Crazy Horse School in Wanblee.

According to Jon Schiedslaw with the Deputy Director of Oglala Sioux Tribe Emergency Management, just after 3 a.m. on Sunday, multiple agencies were called to Crazy Horse School a report of a fire. When crews arrived, they found a small grease fire in the kitchen which had been put out by the school’s sprinkler system.

Schiedslaw continued to say that the kitchen received light smoke damage, and that crews were able to air out the kitchen and mop up the fire. He said the incident will not effect school on Monday.

The Kadoka Volunteer Fire Department, the Martin Volunteer Fire Department, Oglala Sioux Tribe Emergency Management, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety all responded to the call.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Madison, WI – Overnight fire at University of Wisconsin extinguished by sprinkler system

A fire in a room at Chamberlin Hall on the UW-Madison campus was extinguished by an automatic fire sprinkler Wednesday night, with nobody getting hurt in the fire. The fire was reported at 11:05 p.m. in the building at 1150 University Avenue that houses the Physics Department. People evacuating the building told arriving firefighters from Engine Co. 4 they could smell something like smoke.

“Firefighters made their way through the building to investigate the problem,” said Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster. “They found water on an upper-level floor and the smell of smoke became much more apparent.“

With the sound of an activated fire sprinkler being heard coming from a locked room, a full structure fire response was called for, with Ladder Co. 1, Engine Co. 1, Command Car 31 and other central city units responding. “Crews returned to the room in question and unlocked the door,” Schuster said. “That’s where they found evidence that a fire had taken place almost directly underneath an automatic fire sprinkler.“

The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler and smoke had dissipated. “The room was unoccupied at the time of the fire,” Schuster said. “The cause is under investigation.” Damage was confined to the point of origin and didn’t spread to other rooms.