Category Archives: Primary / Secondary School

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Juneau, AK – Arson fire in high school bathroom extinguished by sprinkler system

The Juneau Police Department is seeking an arsonist after a small fire halted classes at Thunder Mountain High School on Tuesday morning. “The fire marshal and JPD are investigating the fire as arson,” said Assistant Fire Chief Ed Quinto on Monday afternoon.  Fire Marshal Dan Jager confirmed that JPD’s school resource officers are investigating who might have set a toilet paper dispenser on fire in a boys’ bathroom.  It might be only a toilet paper dispenser, but “it’s kind of a significant thing,” Jager said.

The fire was hot enough to trigger the school’s sprinkler system, which enthusiastically extinguished the flames and overwhelmed the bathroom’s floor drains. Building-wide fire alarms went off, triggering the evacuation. “It sounds like the sprinklers did their job very effectively,” said Juneau School District Chief of Staff Kristen Bartlett.  The sprinklers quenched the fire but also flooded a nearby hallway and sent water into a few classrooms. Quinto estimates the water and fire damage at $2,500.

The fire started shortly before 10 a.m., and staff and students returned to the high school by 10:30, Bartlett said. The fire took place in the purple wing — the section of the school extending toward the football stadium — and classes scheduled for that wing were expected to resume in the afternoon.

“The custodians and the Thunder Mountain faculty and staff and the maintenance department were excellent at getting things cleaned up,” Bartlett said.  Parents of students at Thunder Mountain High School and nearby Riverbend Elementary School received two calls from the school district: The first call alerted them to the fire; the second told them the fire had been extinguished.

Bartlett said she cannot recall any similar arsons at Juneau high schools. Quinto said he remembers a fire in the girls’ bathroom in the same wing a few years ago. According to Empire records, a small fire scorched Thunder Mountain’s turf field in 2011. A more serious arson burned the turf at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park in 2012.

 

Quinto added that while Thunder Mountain has cameras covering its entrances and common areas, there are no cameras in the hallway outside the bathroom.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Portland, OR – Sprinklers help control overnight fire at elementary school

A school in southwest Portland caught fire early Thursday morning, just two days after it welcomed students for the school year.

Portland Fire and Rescue crews responded to the blaze at Southwest Sherman Street and Southwest Water Avenue at 2:43 a.m., which firefighters said started as a dumpster fire before spreading to The International School.

The private elementary school is a Spanish, Chinese and Japanese language immersion school with 418 students.

Crews knocked down the fire, but not before one building’s electrical system was damaged. Water sprinklers helped minimize fire activity but also added to the destruction.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Marshfield, MA – Trashcan fire in high school woodshop put out with help from sprinkler system

The building has been deemed safe after a trashcan fire at Marshfield High School activated the sprinkler system. There were no injuries.  The Marshfield fire department responded to an alarm at the school at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. A custodian pulled the alarm after finding a fire in a trashcan in the wood shop area.  The building’s sprinkler system and the fire department put out the fire. The shop has extensive smoke and water damage, and the rest of the building was also lightly damaged by smoke, Fire Chief William Hocking said in a statement.   The trash barrel was next to a table saw in the shop. The fire has been deemed accidental. The building was occupied at the time, but no injuries were reported.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Highland, UT – Sprinkler system limits fire from spreading at elementary school

A fire sparked on the roof of Ridgeline Elementary School in Highland, Utah, after midnight on June 4, causing an estimated $300,000 in damages, said Kimberly Bird with Alpine School District.  Bird said the fire began on the roof and was caused by illegally-purchased and illegally set-off fireworks. But most of the damage to the school was from the sprinkler system and not the fire.  Police are looking for the suspects who they believe accidentally set the school on fire with illegally-purchased fireworks that were possibly from out-of-state.   It is illegal to set off fireworks any day of the year other than three days before and after New Year, Chinese New Year, July 4 and July 24, said Ted Black, Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal. He said that it’s a crime to purchase fireworks in another state and to light them in Utah.

“Buy locally, light responsibly,” he said. “And just in case, keep a hose close by.”  School let out for the summer a week ago, so nobody was in Ridgeline Elementary when the fire occurred.  Lone Peak Fire Department responded to the call and extinguished the flames 15 minutes after they arrived on the scene, said fire officials.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Delta, BC, Canada – Fire in gymnasium storage area at elementary school contained with help from sprinklers

An investigation is ongoing into what could have sparked an early Saturday morning fire at Delta Manor Education Centre in Ladner. Delta fire responded to the scene just before 3 a.m. Deputy chief Guy McKintuck said the fire was contained to a storage area behind the gymnasium. He said firefighters had the small blaze knocked down pretty quickly, which was also aided by an overhead sprinkler. There is water, smoke and fire damage, but no estimate on the costs for the restoration, he said. The former elementary school serves as a church and also offers adult basic education and ESL classes.

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Charleston, SC – Arson fire at charter school suppressed by sprinkler system

Authorities are investigating after someone intentionally started a fire at a Charleston school.   The fire happened just before 10 a.m. at the Charleston Charter School of Math and Science on King Street.  When firefighters arrived they found the school evacuation under way and were told of a fire in a bathroom on the second floor.

“Crews entered to find a single fire sprinkler head that was activated and contained the fire to the bathroom area,” CFD officials said.”Firefighters completed extinguishment and proceeded to control the water flow to the sprinkler system and evacuate smoke from the building.”

A report states members of the Fire Marshal Division responded to investigate the incident and determined the fire was intentionally set in the bathroom. Fire investigators along with the Charleston Police Department and the school administration are reviewing the incident.  “Once the smoke was removed from the building the majority of the school reoccupied, one area of the school remained closed as staff worked to clean smoke and water damage,” CFD officials said. 

No injuries were reported.  The Charleston Fire Department, North Charleston and Saint Andrews fire departments, Charleston County EMS, and the Charleston Police Department responded to the scene. 

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Burley, ID – Arson fire at elementary school extinguished by sprinkler system

A student is suspected of lighting a roll of toilet paper and some paper towels on fire Friday damaging a bathroom and temporarily evacuating White Pine Intermediate School. “The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system,” Debbie Critchfield, spokeswoman for the district said.  An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Burley Fire Department and the Cassia County Sheriff’s Office.  The fire was started around 9 a.m. in the fourth-grade wing in the boys’ bathroom.  “They have a suspect,” Critchfield said.  The fire department was called to the school and the firefighters made sure the blaze was extinguished.

The firefighters then reset the sprinkler system, which meant the fire system was down for about an hour at the school. Students were returned to their classrooms, except for the two classes that were affected by the cleanup, Principal Matt Seely said in a text message to parents Friday. Those students were supervised by their teachers in the gym.  There is fire damage in the restroom and water damage in the hallway and in a classroom directly across the hall from the bathroom.  When the water is dried, maintenance will determine what repairs need to be made, Critchfield said.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Chantilly, VA – Early morning fire in middle school classroom extinguished by sprinkler system

At 2:00 a.m., Monday, May 17th, Fire and Rescue crews from Dulles South were dispatched for a fire alarm at J. Michael Lunsford Middle School, located at 26020 Ticonderoga Road. Firefighters arrived to find an active fire alarm and the presence of smoke inside the building. A full structure fire assignment, to include units from Brambleton, Fairfax County, and Dulles Airport, were dispatched to assist.

Firefighters located a small fire in a classroom which had been extinguished by an automatic fire sprinkler system. Fire department personnel remained on scene to ensure the extinguished material was removed, the utilities were secured and that the building was adequately ventilated. Once deemed safe, the building was turned over to Loudoun County Public Schools representatives. The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office conducted an investigation and determined the fire was accidental and estimated damages at $5,000.  There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians. One pet reptile was removed from the room of origin and turned over to school staff for care.

This incident is a prime example of the positive impact of a fire protection alarm and automatic sprinkler system. A small fire in a classroom triggered the school’s monitored fire alarm system, which alerted firefighters, while the fire was quickly contained and extinguished by an automatic sprinkler system.  The damages to the building were minimized by the sprinkler system, allowing the school to remain open with little impact to the community and its students.

Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Officials continue to tout the importance of automatic fire sprinkler systems and their safety benefits. For more information on fire prevention activities and education in Loudoun County, visit www.loudoun.gov/firemarshal or call 703-737-8600.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Philadelphia, PA – Bathroom fire at charter high school contained with help from sprinkler system

 A staff member was taken to the hospital after a fire broke out in Olney Charter High School in Philadelphia on Monday morning.  Officials say the fire occurred at 10:10 a.m. in a bathroom, and the sprinkler system helped douse the flames.  The building was evacuated, and students were dismissed for the day at 11 a.m.

Fire officials say the staffer who was taken to the hospital had to be checked out for smoke inhalation. That person, a Safety Team member, was one of the first people on the scene of the fire, officials said.  That person has since been released from the hospital.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Helena, MT – Afternoon fire at middle school extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

There will be no classes at C.R. Anderson Middle School on Tuesday due to a fire that caused damage on Monday. According to a press release from Helena Public Schools, the fire was reported at 2:59 p.m.  There were no students in the building at the time, and there were no reported injuries.  Currently there is no power and no phone service at the school.

Just before 3 p.m. on Monday, the Helena Fire Department was dispatched to C.R.A. for a general fire alarm. When firefighters arrived they saw smoke coming from the west end door, so they evacuated the building. No students were in the building because it was an early release day.  Fire officials said the building sprinkler system kept the fire contained and quickly extinguished. 

On Tuesday, the building will be closed to students, staff, and the public. All after-school activities for May 9th have been cancelled.   The HPS says: “Due to water damage the status of the building will be assessed mid-day on Tuesday and a determination will be made regarding whether or not school will resume on Wednesday, May 10.”

Late Monday afternoon, a professional crew was at the school to begin work on cleaning up the water damage. The cause of the fire is being investigated. The dollar amount of damage is not yet known. We will update you when we get more information.