Category Archives: Primary / Secondary School

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Des Moines, IA – Fire sprinklers extinguish fire started by a student in school bathroom

A small fire in a bathroom at Lincoln High School forced the building’s evacuation Monday morning and classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

School officials said the fire started in a first-floor boys bathroom before 8:30 a.m. and the school’s sprinkler system turned on and put out the fire.

“So there’s some water damage, some smoke damage and minimal amount of fire damage in the bathroom. Probably be some structural damage to the walls that will have to be replaced due to the water and the smoke,” Des Moines Fire Lieutenant Chris Clement said.

The Des Moines Fire Department said the cause of the fire is being investigated.

Phil Roeder, with the Des Moines Public School District, said they were able to identify the student involved and they could be facing disciplinary action.

“The police department and our SRO responded very quickly to find out who the person was behind this. Staff was working with authorities both to make sure students were safe, but also helping to identify who they thought triggered this as well. It was a good team effort,” Roeder said.

Students and staff were allowed into the Roundhouse and Commons while fire crews responded.

Roeder said students will be back in class on Tuesday.

“Because the bathroom fire was on the front part of the school, things like the gymnasium and all that are on the backside of the school and pretty far away from where any smell is. So activities are going to go on at school as usual and we expect the clean up for the most part to be completed today and classes will start back up at 8:30 tomorrow morning,” Roeder said.

Students will have to make up the school time that was lost on Monday, but Roeder said they might not be able to start making it up until after the holidays.

“We’ll sit down and look at the hours, look at the calendar and make sure the time we lost today gets made up appropriately and get on with the rest of the school year,” Roeder said.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Danvers, MA – Fire sprinkler quickly puts out fire started in school bathroom by student

A 15-year-old juvenile is suspected of setting a fire in a bathroom at Danvers High School on Wednesday that caused thousands of dollars of damage and forced the school to evacuate and dismiss students for the day.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but students were dismissed due to a sprinkler activation and the need for cleanup, according to a press release from the Danvers Police Department.

Police said a 15-year-old from Danvers has been identified as the suspect and that criminal charges are pending. Officials described the incident as an “intentional act of vandalism.”

Firefighters and police responded to a fire alarm at Danvers High School on Cabot Road at 8:12 a.m. The alarm triggered the evacuation of students by staff. The fire was discovered in the third-floor men’s bathroom and was quickly extinguished, officials said.

The Danvers Police Department’s criminal investigation division is working with the Essex District Attorney’s Office on pending criminal charges.

Afternoon and evening events were scheduled to take place as scheduled at Danvers High School on Wednesday, and school will be open for a regular school day on Thursday, school officials said.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Beaufort County, SC – Fire is kept from spreading at school thanks to sprinkler system activation

A laptop left charging on a “combustible” material started a small fire at Beaufort Academy Sunday morning, officials with the Lady’s Island St. Helena Fire District say.

The fire department first responded to the school at 6:24 a.m. after a passerby noticed the fire alarm sounding and called 911, said Scott Harris, fire district spokesman.

Crews did not notice signs of a fire after walking through the building, Harris said. The fire’s location, inside a classroom, was discovered after reviewing data from the school’s sprinkler system.

Fire and water damage were restricted to the classroom because the sprinkler system activated only in that location and it was able to extinguish the fire before it spread, Harris said.

About 300 students from preschool through 12th grade attend Beaufort Academy, the school’s website says. It describes itself as an independent college preparatory school.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Flint, MI – Single sprinkler head extinguishes maintenance room fire at high school

A sprinkler system extinguished a fire in the maintenance office at Carman-Ainsworth High School Tuesday night.

Assistant Fire Chief Michael Burkley said the Flint Township Fire Department was alerted to a sprinkler activation at about 10:41 p.m. inside the building at 1300 N. Linden Road. The sprinkler set off a water flow alarm at the department.

Burkley said when firefighters arrived, they found water flowing out of the building in the loading dock and swimming pool areas and could see smoke in the hallway near the swimming pool. Firefighters forced their way into the building and saw the water was coming from the maintenance office.

“Luckily, there was a single sprinkler head in that office that put out the fire,” Burkley said. “They’re designed to go off when temperatures get to over 150 degrees. The fire was contained to a desk that had electronic items on it. You could see where it burned up the wall. If there had been no sprinkler there, it would have been much worse.”

Burkley said a sprinkler system can put out about 35 to 50 gallons of water a minute. Once firefighters determined the fire was extinguished, they shut down the sprinkler system and remained on the scene until about midnight sweeping water from the building and setting up ventilation fans to rid the building of smoke.

Burkley said there was no one in the building at the time of the fire. He said school administration and maintenance staff quickly showed up after being alerted by a monitoring company and Genesee County 911. He said an employee of the sprinkler company also came to the scene to install a new sprinkler head and reset the system.

Water also ran into the boiler room, but no damage was caused to the equipment there.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Classes were being held at the high school Wednesday morning.

The Flint Township Police Department assisted at the scene.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Cleburne, TX – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at high school; No injuries reported

Cleburne firefighters responded to an alarm call at 10:27 p.m. June 20 at Cleburne High School.

Upon arrival they discovered that training supplies stacked in a storage room had caught fire. Firefighters described the items as “football type rubber training pads.”

The sprinkler system had activated and extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived. Firefighters described the damage as minimal, limited to the rubber pads, though some water damage occurred, according to reports. The water damage, however, was limited to the school’s “inside rubber type football field,” according to reports.

School officials and construction personnel were on hand when firefighters arrived. Reports list no cause for the fire and no injuries were reported.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Bethel, CT – Fire at middle school put out by fire sprinklers

Numerous fire department in the area Bethel responded to a large commercial building fire and a fire at a middle school Sunday afternoon.

According to the Stony Hill Volunteer Fire Company’s Facebook page, numerous companies from Fairfield County responded to a large fire in the Francis J Clarke business park.

Firefighters also responded to Bethel Middle School on calls of smoke in the building. The sprinkler system was able to put out the fire.

Bethel Middle School will not be session Monday.

It is unclear if anyone was inside or hurt at the time of the fires.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Hingham, MA – Classroom electrical fire kept in check by fire sprinklers

Classes at Hingham High were cancelled today after a fire broke out in a classroom cabinet full of electronics early Friday morning.

The fire was put out by 7 a.m., but Deputy Fire Chief William Powers said there is smoke and water damage throughout the building. He said fire, cleanup and alarm crews on scene are hoping the school can reopen Monday morning, Wicked Local reported.

“On scene we had a heavy smoke condition and a water flow, which meant the sprinklers had fused,” Powers said.

The deputy chief said the fire started in a classroom cabinet that held a TV, VCR and several computers.

“Something obviously overheated and caused an electrical fire,” he said. “The sprinkler head directly above the cabinet kept the fire in check, but it continued burning in the cabinet until we got there.”

Firefighters cut off power to the building.

“There is a need for cleanup and we cannot occupy the building today,” Superintendent Dorothy Galo said in a message Friday morning. “We will appreciate everyone’s cooperation in staying away from the HS building to allow the needed cleanup.”

All classes and Advanced Placement exams have been cancelled. Galo said students who were scheduled to take an AP exam will be contacted individually.

High School administrators are working from Town Hall. Classes in Hingham’s other five schools will still take place.

Weymouth, Hull and Cohasset firefighters responded to the school when the second alarm sounded, and Rockland and Scituate covered the station.

Powers said the school is about 800 feet from the Hingham fire headquarters, which prompted quick response from firefighters. He said there were no injuries.

The fire is being investigated by Hingham police and fire, the Hinghal building inspector and the state fire marshal’s office.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Plainfield Township, MI – Classroom fire quickly extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Sprinklers put out a small fire in a Northview High School classroom Monday evening.

The Plainfield Township Fire Department says the fire was out by the time fire crews got on the scene. No one was hurt.

Photos posted to the department’s Facebook page show minimal fire damage to a lab.

The cause of the fire has not yet been released.

Tuesday classes are not expected to be affected.

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.

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.”