Category Archives: Storage / Warehouse

Las Cruces, NM – Sprinkler system suppresses fire until fire crews arrive

Firefighters dowsed a rubbish fire inside a downtown-area warehouse on Monday. 

Officials said the fire, which started shortly after 1 p.m. on July 5, threatened to consume the entire building and surrounding homes. Dan Trujillo, Las Cruces Police Department spokesperson, said sprinklers in the warehouse suppressed the fire until firefighters arrived. 

“Firefighters entered the warehouse and found heavy smoke and fire along the east wall of the building,” Trillijo said in a news release. 

Trujillo said that no one was inside the warehouse when it caught fire. He said the cause of the fire is still under investigation and that damage estimates are not available.

The Las Cruces Fire Department credits a working sprinkler system with helping prevent the fire from spreading and damaging more of the building,” he said. “LCFD encourages the professional installation and utilization of a sprinkler or fire suppression system in buildings that do not already have such a system.”

Norfolk, NE – Sprinkler system activated for warehouse fire; No injuries reported

Crews responded to the scene of a reported fire inside the MP Global building in northern Norfolk at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Two rigs from the Norfolk Fire Division initially responded to the scene off of Riverside Boulevard before mutual aid from Hadar Fire & Rescue, Hoskins/Woodland Park and Battle Creek Fire & Rescue were brought in.

The fire started in the southern, warehouse half of the building and was caused by a hot piece of metal inside grinder material, said Capt. Lannce Grothe with the Norfolk Fire Division. Firefighters entered the business from the west side.

Several employees could be seen standing in the building’s west lawn while crews worked the scene. Nobody was injured and all employees had evacuated the building by the time crews had arrived, Grothe said.

No structural damage was done to the building, Grothe said, but the fire caused about $20,000 in damage to equipment.

MP Global’s water sprinkler system and carbon dioxide sprinkler system contained the fire, Grothe said, preventing a far worse outcome. Initial reports led fire crews to believe that they had a much bigger fire on their hands, he said.

“We wanted to call in mutual aid with the possibility of a big fire,” Grothe said. “And, on a hot day like this, you want to have all the manpower you can.”

MP Global employs about 140 people across its two Norfolk plants and 85 at the Riverside Boulevard location where the fire occurred, said Al Collison, owner and chief executive officer.

“I was in shock at first. We have protocol that, when something like this happens, everybody evacuates the building, our systems respond to the fire and then the fire department takes over,” Collison said. “They all got out right away, so everyone is safe.”

About 25 employees were inside the building when the fire started, Collison said.

“It’s a shock; your biggest worry is making sure people are out,” he said.

As of about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, crews remained on scene and were working to ventilate the building. MP Global, which operates 24 hours a day, was expected to be operating again by 6 a.m. Thursday, Collison said.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Norfolk Police Division also responded to the scene.

MP Global is a cardboard liner company that had to recover from a major fire in 2005 that Collison, the founder of MP Global, said proved to be “the most challenging period of my life.”

Damage was estimated at between $5 million and $6 million. With a stack of orders, Collison said in a 2005 Daily News story that he had to immediately find a site where production could continue almost seamlessly. Within two days of the fire, Collison located a factory in Mexico City, Mexico. Production was moved to Mexico for six months until the Norfolk facility reopened, Collison said.

Fresno, CA – Sprinkler system controlled fire at Amazon fulfillment center until fire crews arrived

Firefighters are investigating after a fire broke out at the Amazon fulfillment center in southwest Fresno on Friday morning.

The fire was reported around 1:45 am. Nearly a dozen fire units responded to the facility on Orange Avenue.

Fire officials say they found flames on the third floor of the fulfillment center. The sprinkler system had turned on and helped to keep the blaze controlled.

Firefighters knocked down the flames and prevented them from spreading further.

Fire crews have not determine what sparked the blaze. Witnesses tell Action News they believe the flames broke out on one of the robotics that carries pods.

They say the water from the sprinkler system flowed down to the two bottom floors.

Firefighters spent several hours throughout the morning removing the water.

Everyone inside the building was safely evacuated, and no injuries have been reported.

Officials were assessing the damage caused by the fire.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Tempe, AZ – Sprinkler system activated for fire at appliance warehouse

Crews have contained a second alarm fire that broke out at an appliance warehouse in Tempe Saturday night.

Fire crews say when they arrived at the building near Hardy and Broadway roads, they found haze coming from the second floor and the building’s sprinkler system had been activated.

The fire was balanced to a first alarm fire due to the size and type of building, but was then balanced to a second alarm after a Mayday situation was activated.

During the attack, two firefighters became disoriented which prompted the Mayday situation.

Officials say both of the firefighters were quickly located, uninjured and doing okay.

Tempe fire officials say over 100 firefighters were on the scene from Tempe, Mesa, Phoenix and Guadalupe to help battle the fire.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

South Brunswick, NJ – Sprinkler system activated for warehouse fire; No injuries reported

A warehouse in South Brunswick Township caught on fire last night around 7 P.M. Over 50 firefighters arrived at the scene, including all three South Brunswick Companies (Monmouth Junction, Kingston & Kendall Park), Monroe Fire District 3, Jamesburg, Plainsboro and North Brunswick Fire Co. #2.

No one was injured in the fire, according to a press release. At 7:05 P.M., February 19th, South Brunswick police were alerted about a fire at the Sunoco Warehouse at 5 Stults Road near Route 130.

According to a preliminary investigation, the fire started due to the finished cardboard canisters manufactured by the facility which were stored on plastic pallets and shrink-wrapped, then stacked three pallets high. “Fortunately the sprinkler system and fire pump contained the fire to several stacks of the palletizing goods. Unfortunately, the fire and water caused several pallets to collapse, making it difficult for firefighters to locate and extinguish the seat of the fire,” said Monmouth Junction Fire Chief Scott Smith in a released statement.

At the time, fire hydrants on Stults Road were frozen. Firefighters used tankers from Cranbury, Jamesburg, Plainsboro and Monroe for water supply.

Crews were routinely rotated due to the intensive manpower to reach the seat of the fire 300 feet deep into the warehouse. It took several hours to ventilate the heavy smoke from the fire using large trailer-mounted fans from the Edison and Millstone Valley Fire Departments.

The fire is currently under investigation by the South Brunswick Township Fire Safety Bureau, according to a press release.

Bartlett, IL – Sprinkler system contains fire at warehouse; No injuries reported

More than 80 firefighters responded Tuesday night to a large fire at a 100,000-square-foot warehouse in Bartlett, authorities said.

The first crews arrived at the warehouse on the 1300 block of Brewster Creek Boulevard about 10:15 p.m. Workers told them that smoke and flames were coming from a pallet storage area.

The building’s sprinkler system contained the fire to a 50-square-foot area, but heavy smoke created visibility issues, according to a news release from the Bartlett Fire Protection District.

The fire was escalated to a second alarm, bringing additional firefighters and equipment, and authorities requested a specialized truck-mounted fan to help clear the smoke. The fire was declared under control at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Nobody was injured in the fire, which investigators said was accidental.

The Hanover Park, Streamwood, South Elgin, Elgin, Fox River Countryside, West Chicago, Carol Stream, Bloomingdale, Naperville, Elk Grove and St. Charles fire departments responded to the scene as part of mutual aid agreements, the news release said. The Bartlett Police Department, Bartlett Public Works Department and the Hanover Township Emergency Services also assisted.

Greenville, SC – Fire sprinklers help extinguish fire at lumber warehouse

Firefighting crews responded to a scene at a Greenville lumber warehouse Friday evening, where crews say the building’s sprinkler system helped them extinguish the fire.

FOX Carolina was tipped off to the scene just before 9 p.m. along White Horse Court, at the Builders FirstSource warehouse there. Our crews confirmed fire engines and personnel were handling the scene, noting it appeared that Gantt District Fire Department was the lead agency.

The department said crews found a fire inside the warehouse, but the sprinkler system inside kept it small. Crews were clearing out by 10 p.m. after tackling the blaze.

Gantt District FD said crews from Belmont, Parker, and South Greenville also responded.

Riverside, CA – Warehouse sprinkler system keeps fire in check

Firefighters Sunday made quick work of a fire inside a warehouse in Riverside that was held in check by the building’s sprinkler system.

Firefighters were dispatched at 7:16 a.m. to Prudential Overall Supply, 6997 Jurupa Ave., and reported a working fire in the warehouse held in check by the fire sprinkler system, Riverside Fire Department Battalion Chief Bruce Vanderhorst said.

“The fire is knocked down and crews are on scene overhauling,” Vanderhorst said. “Crews are working on ventilating, shutting down the sprinkler system and extensive mop up.”

Elkhart, IN – Sprinkler system contains fire after coach bus catches fire inside building; No injuries reported

Elkhart Fire Department responded to a fire inside the former Forest River plant at 914 CR 1, Elkhart on Monday afternoon.

A bus was on fire inside the plant, which Elkhart Coach moved into just three weeks ago. The fire department had to stretch about 200 feet of hose line to reach the building.

The fire was reported out around 4:30 p.m. No one was injured and employees were evacuated safely.

Dispatch confirms that the bus caught fire inside building, but no units inside were damaged. The sprinkler system contained the fire and firefighters put it out.