Category Archives: Storage / Warehouse

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Springdale, AR – Sprinkler system helps contain warehouse fire after Styrofoam containers burn

A fire burned Styrofoam containers inside an industrial warehouse Friday afternoon.

The fire burned the southwest portion of the 70,000-square-foot building at 659 E. Randall Wobbe Lane.

Styrofoam containers for the Cargill poultry processing plant across the street were stored in the building, said Phil Phillips Jr., owner of the warehouse.

A firefighter was transported to the hospital afterward with injuries. Springdale Fire Capt. Matt Bagley said the firefighter’s injuries were not life-threatening.

Any toxic fumes from the burning Styrofoam were contained to the property and an empty lot to the west, said Bagley. Firefighters had the fire under control about 15 minutes after arriving, he said.

Fire department officials will not know the cause of the fire until inspectors can enter the building.

The Arkansas & Missouri Railroad closed its tracks immediately to the west of the building for about two hours. Andrew Preston, a track foreman, said the fire delayed the arrival of three trains from the north into the railroad’s switching yard, but the delay was not a problem. “We just told them to slow down,” he said.

All five employees on the property quickly evacuated when the building’s fire alarms sounded, said Mindy Peck, manager of the warehouse.

The alarm system notified the fire department about 2:34 p.m., Bagley said. The building’s sprinkler system was flowing when the first crews arrived, he said.

The fire department responded with four engines, two ladder trucks and two ambulances — all the equipment from all city stations but one, Bagley said. Neighboring fire departments covered three calls during the fire, he said.

Phillips said he has owned the building since the late 1990s and plans to rebuild it.

The amount of damage to the building is not yet known.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Delaware, OH – Sprinkler system keeps fire in check at warehouse; No injuries reported

A fire broke out in a warehouse located at 435 Park Ave. in Delaware Monday.

The Delaware Fire Department responded to a sprinkler system alarm in the building at 4 a.m.

Delaware Fire Chief John Donahue said there was black smoke showing upon arrival, but the sprinkler system was “keeping (the fire) in check.”

A second alarm was raised for the fire, which Donahue said was because of the size of the nearly 500,000-square-foot building and the location of the fire, which he said was 75 to 100 feet into the building.

Donahue added the problem crews ran into was the product that was being stored in the warehouse, which is owned by Milwaukee-based Phoenix Investors. He said the product was shredded coconut core, which is then dehydrated and formed into small blocks before eventually being used as a filler and to hold moisture in Scotts fertilizer products.

Because the product absorbs moisture, Donahue said the packages were being expanded and eventually ripping open due to the water from the sprinklers. He said nearly 750,o00 pounds of product had to be pulled out of the area where the fire had started to ensure they had extinguished all threats.

The crew utilized two Bobcats inside the building and a trackhoe on the exterior to move the product out and away from the building.

Due to the fire still smoldering inside, the building remained charged with smoke, which led to the fire department going through air bottles quickly. Scioto Township’s air unit was dispatched with the initial call, and Donahue said Elm Valley was later brought to the scene to provide more air after his unit had exhausted Scioto Township’s cascade system.

Donahue said the crews didn’t leave the scene until 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, a nearly 22-hour day for the crew.

A final total of the damages hasn’t been assessed yet, and a cause has not been determined either as the fire is still under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Orlando, FL – Sprinkler activation lessens damage at Amazon warehouse

A fire was reported Sunday night in an Amazon warehouse on Boggy Creek Road, according to Orange County Fire Rescue.

OCFR first tweeted about the fire at around 9 p.m. indicating that the sprinklers within the warehouse were activated, and the building was evacuated, OCFR said.

Shortly after, OCFR followed up with a tweet saying the fire had been extinguished.

Fire crews were then working the scene salvaging Amazon goods.

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Milledgeville, GA – Reactive chemical sets fire to warehouse, sprinkler system helped keep fire in check; No injuries reported

A chemical fire Monday evening in a warehouse at the Zschimmer & Schwarz Inc. plant in Milledgeville left parts of the plant with heat and water damages.

No injuries were reported to either plant employees or to firefighters who were alerted to the scene following a 911 call about 6:30 p.m. Employees had evacuated the plant before the first firefighters arrived. 

More than two dozen firefighters from Baldwin County Fire Rescue and Milledgeville Fire Rescue responded to the fire, which reportedly sent flames up to the ceiling beams of the plant’s smaller warehouse, located to the left front portion of the building that overlooks Ga. Route 22 near Britt Waters Road. 

At least three different agencies were involved Tuesday in investigating the fire, including Baldwin County Fire Rescue, Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Emergency Response Team.

“The fire was contained to one section in the warehouse,” according to Baldwin County Fire Rescue Chief Steve Somers.

He said the fire was believed to have been caused by a reactive chemical. The name of the chemical had not been disclosed publicly as of Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ll have it in the report as soon as it is completed,” Somers said.

The fire chief said none of the plant’s employees or any of the firefighters were exposed to the chemical, however. 

“Several other non-chemical containers also sustained heat damages from the fire,” Somers said. “Those products were not flammable. The fire just caused the substance in them to leak out.”

Somers said the only pallet of chemical substance that was what he described as hazardous was the one that caught fire.

The Milledgeville Zschimmer & Schwarz plant produces several different chemicals that are used for soap and other products.

“Most of the chemicals that they produce are not hazardous,” Somers said.

The fire spread smoke throughout much of the building, including the office area.

“There seems to be no other ignition source in that area, so that’s what we, and the chemist from the company, are going with at this time,” Somers said. “The chemist tried to explain to us that the product was not in a settled state. In fact, they were in the process of getting rid of it. They were not involved in getting rid of it when this happened, but they were working on the process of getting it out of the warehouse. But, it reacted before that could do something with it.”

Somers said the evacuation involved a skeleton crew of employees. All of them stayed on the front side of the building while county and city firefighters combed the building in search of hot spots.

The fire chief said a couple of ceiling beams were damaged due to the heat.

“The fire probable lasted just a few seconds, but it was hot enough to do that amount of damage in that short a period of time,” Somers said. “Immediately, it set off approximately 40 sprinkler heads in the warehouse.”

Somers said the plant’s offices sustained no real damages.

Firefighters were led by Baldwin County Fire Rescue Deputy Chief of Operations Philip Adams. 

“Everybody did a great job of working together,” Somers said, referring to county and city firefighters. “Anytime we have a structure fire, we back each other up. The city actually got there a few seconds before we did. And they did an awesome job in figuring out what was going on so they could give us a heads-up when we got there.”

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Ogden, UT – Warehouse fire controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Crews from multiple fire departments were at the scene of a fire in a commercial warehouse in Ogden early Saturday morning.

Firefighters were dispatched at 2:42 a.m. to 2048 Washington Blvd.

The blaze caused Washington Boulevard to be closed to traffic from 20th to 21st Street, and the public was asked to avoid the area.

“Crews are working to vertically ventilate the structure. Crews continue to work to extinguish the fire inside the building. The building has a working sprinkler system that deployed prior to fire department arrival,” the department tweeted.

Firefighters were supplementing the structure’s sprinkler system through the fire department connection, and everything was under control at 3:47 a.m.

By 3:50 a.m., the fire was out and crews were continuing ventilation and performing overhaul procedures. Loss Stop benchmark established at 4:01 a.m., the tweet said.

The cause of the fire is undetermined and is under investigation by the Fire Marshal.

There were no injuries as a result of this fire.

Thirty firefighters from Ogden City, Roy City, and Riverdale Fire Departments are on scene, OFD tweeted.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

St. George, UT – Warehouse fire stopped by fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The St. George Fire Department was called to Dixie Metal Recycling after a fire broke out in the warehouse just before noon.

According to Chief Robert Stoker, fire crews arrived in Fort Pierce Industrial Park just off of 1630 East to find the warehouse and office building full of smoke.

Employees were using a mobile, gas-powered cutoff saw inside the shop to cut what appeared to be copper pipes, Stoker said. Sparks from the saw ignited into flames after they entered nearby barrels full of shooting cartridges and bullet casings turned into the business by a shooting range. Stoker said employees were unaware of the contents of the barrels.

Four sprinkler heads activated and extinguished the fire prior to the crews’ arrival. Stoker said firefighters were able to clear the smoke, turn off the fire suppression system and overhaul the debris and surrounding area to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.

Stoker said all of the sprinklers were not activated because each head has its own temperature gauge.

“Rather than the whole sprinkler system going off, it will only fuse those heads in that area, and those sprinklers will turn on where they will supply water downward toward the water,” he said.

Businesses like Dixie Metal Recycling are required to have sprinkler systems and insulation because of the “hazardous nature of what they do,” Stoker said.

The majority of the shop remained dry, except for the area involved in the fire, which had water on the ground. There was minimal damage to the shop’s ceiling and walls due to the flames.

A Gold Cross Ambulance was available, but no injuries were reported and employees on scene refused medical treatment.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Kapolei, HI – Warehouse fire stopped thanks to fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

Authorities say a fire that sparked from a warehouse in Kapolei on Wednesday night was intentionally set.

The blaze started around 8:25 p.m.

The Honolulu Fire Department said the fire started in unit 11 in a building on Kalaeloa Boulevard near the intersection of Malakole Street.

The sprinkler system in the building helped stop the fire from spreading, fire officials said.

Crews extinguished the fire within about 25 minutes.

No injuries were reported.

The cause is under investigation.

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Storage / Warehouse

Schofield, WI – Fire caused by cardboard put out by fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

 A fire broke out in a maintenance area at Northern Cold Storage Monday afternoon. It closed parts of Grossman Drive for several hours.

Firefighters believe some cardboard caught fire after a wall heater malfunctioned.

Internal sprinkler systems put the fire out, but the area also contained an ammonia pump. A hazmat team was called in by the storage company.

“They showed up here and made sure that the ammonia system was working correctly and it is,” said Rob Bowen, the Riverside Fire District Fire Chief. “So there’s no fear to the public or anything.”

Fire crews started packing up around 6:00 PM.

All employees evacuated the building without injury.

There was light smoke damage to the building.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Simi Valley, CA – Chemical fire at warehouse contained by fire sprinkler system

A large chemical fire in an industrial building in Simi Valley that sent plumes of smoke into the sky early Tuesday has been contained, fire officials said.

Ventura County fire crews received a report of a hazardous material emergency at a warehouse in the 100 block of Cochran Street near Madera Road about 6:15 a.m. Inside the building, 75-gallon drums filled with nitric acid were burning, sending up thick, dark smoke, said Capt. Anthony Romero.

People in neighboring businesses and homes were told to stay indoors as dozens of firefighters attacked the blaze from the outside of the building to keep the fire from spreading. The fire activated the sprinkler system inside the warehouse, Romero said.

At 9:45 a.m., fire officials said that the blaze had been contained and that firefighters would remain at the scene to deal with hazardous materials. Evacuation orders were lifted two hours later, and local businesses were allowed to reopen, although officials said a slight irritant smell may linger for the rest of the day.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Naperville, IL – Vending machine fire contained by single fire sprinkler; No injuries reported

A vending machine caught fire early Saturday inside a Naperville warehouse, but was quickly extinguished, authorities said.

Some two dozen firefighters responded to the commercial building on the 400 block of Fort Hill Drive at 5:20 a.m. after receiving a 911 call, as well as automatic notification from the building’s fire alarm system, according to a news release.

Firefighters arrived within five minutes, seeing nothing on the building’s exterior, but when they went inside, they found fire coming from the vending machine. A sprinkler head directly over the machine contained the fire to that room, and with a single hose line, crews were able to extinguish it, the release stated.

All occupants of the building were outside by the time firefighters arrived, and no injuries were reported.

Fire crews spent the morning removing water, using a fan boat to evacuate smoke from the building, and conducting salvage and overhaul.

Fire officials say the fire is accidental in nature.