Category Archives: Storage / Warehouse

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Chicago, IL – Fire at large furniture warehouse extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire broke out in a large furniture warehouse in the Ford City neighborhood in the early hours of Black Friday.  Fire crews responded to United Furniture in 4100 block of West 76th Street about 9:30 a.m. and discovered several couches on fire, according to department officials.  The sprinkler system extinguished the flames, officials said. Employees were evacuated but no one was reported injured and no one was transported from the scene for medical treatment, officials said.

Warehouse owner Abdail Morra wore a light yellow coat and held a cup of coffee as he stood a few feet from the building, looking on as emergency personnel surveyed the scene. Four fire engines with flashing red lights were parked just outside the building.  “It was honestly really scary,” he said, showing a video of dozens of couches catching fire. An employee noticed the fire and rushed to Morra’s office.  Friends and colleagues approached Morra outside, offering a hug or a handshake and a few words of condolence.   “I just hope I don’t have to close down,” he said. “If I close down, it will break me big time.”

Storage / Warehouse

Cheyenne, WY – Sprinkler system keeps fulfillment center fire at bay

The Sierra Trading Post Fulfillment Center was evacuated Monday morning following a fire on the building’s east side.  Cheyenne Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the scene at 10:07 a.m. and arrived at 10:15 a.m. to see the building had already been evacuated, according to a news release.  Firefighters encountered “dense smoke” when they got inside and were able to locate the fire in the eastern portion of the building. They had it under control by 10:40 a.m. but were still on scene at 3 p.m.  No injuries were reported, and Scott Smith, Fire and Rescue public information officer, said the building’s sprinkler system likely kept the fire at bay in the Fulfillment Center, where orders are often stored.  Officials are still working to identify the cause of the fire and assess damage.

Retail, Storage / Warehouse

Spring Hill, TN – Firefighters contain tire fire at Discount Tire store with help from sprinkler

The Spring Hill Fire Department responded to a fire outbreak at Discount Tire on Main Street Saturday night, which both Spring Hill firefighters and members of the Williamson County Rescue Squad successfully extinguished within a few hours.

“We get the call a little bit after 8 (p.m.), and when we arrive, sprinkler heads are already activated, and we’ve got a heavy fire in the tires and smoke coming out of the roof,” said Spring Hill Fire Chief Terry Hood. “Where the sprinkler wasn’t putting the fire out, we had active fire between some tires. We spent about two to three hours getting it under control.”

According to Hood, the source of the fire has been determined to be a heat gun that was near some cardboard boxes. A heat gun is sometimes used in the tire installation process, specifically for the installation of wheel weights.  “By the rack of tires we found the trash can, and there’s no other possible cause of ignition there,” Hood said. “When the fire attacked the cord [of the heat gun], it melted away, which caused the wires to short [circuit].”

Hood said the performance of both his firefighters and the Williamson County Rescue Squad was “excellent,” especially considering the dangers tire fires can bring. Tire fires are difficult to extinguish, and release dark smoke that contains dangerous chemicals such as cyanide and sulfur dioxide.

The Discount Tire closed at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and the manager reportedly left the business at around 7 p.m., with Spring Hill Fire receiving a call about smoke roughly an hour afterwards.  The manager at the Spring Hill Discount Tire, Joe Stevens, said he immediately returned to the business after hearing reports of a fire, and feared the worst.  “Honestly, I thought the whole thing burned down,” Stevens said. “When I pulled in, there were already fire trucks here and police officers, thank god they were here. I honestly thought the whole building was going to be down.” The Discount Tire is temporarily closed, but will be reopened “within a few days,” according to staff.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Somers Point, NJ – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in controlling blaze at boat storage facility

The fire inside the boat rack building at Waterfront Marine at the base of the Route 52 causeway Wednesday could have been much worse, Fire Chief Michael Sweeney said.  Had the boats there caught fire, the melting fiberglass would have created hazardous conditions, Sweeney said. When the call came into the Fire Department at 5:34 p.m. of smoke inside the building on Goll Avenue near the bay, Sweeney called for fire crews from Scullville, Bargaintown, Ocean City and Linwood to assist and for Cardiff to provide coverage for the fire companies at the scene. The Marmora Volunteer Fire Company did both.

Sweeney and other firefighters arrived within minutes. A large industrial forklift was on fire inside the building, he said.  “I saw heavy black smoke coming out of the rear. The doors are down, but it’s pushing out of the rear of the building, and smoke (was) coming out of the side of the garage doors,” said Sweeney, who added there was zero visibility inside the building when he arrived. “One hose team stretched a line inside the side door, and the second crew went to the rear and used power saws to cut through the rolled-up (garage) door, and they stretched a line in through the back.”

Firefighters took about 10 minutes to extinguish the forklift fire and ventilate the building, Sweeney said.  An Atlantic County Emergency Services Hazmat team kept water runoff — and the mixture of leaking oil from the forklift and water from the sprinkler system — from entering the bay, Sweeney said By 8:14 p.m., only Somers Point firefighters were left.  Had the boats themselves caught fire, firefighters could have been on the scene until Thursday morning, Sweeney said.  No one was injured in the fire, officials said.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Aurora, IL – Warehouse fire kept in check by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Aurora firefighters responded to a piece of equipment that was on fire in a warehouse near Interstate 88 and the Aurora outlet mall.

Firefighters found a large one-story warehouse filled with smoke around 1:49 a.m. Tuesday in the 900 block of Corporate Boulevard, officials said in a news release.

Upon further investigation, firefighters found a large hopper filled with foam and padding that was on fire. A sprinkler head activated which helped keep the fire under control until 24 firefighters were able to completely extinguish the fire with hoses in one hour, according to the release.

Officials said the fire was probably caused by the machine overheating.

There were no injuries, officials said. The fire damage was contained to the hopper and did not spread to the building, the release stated.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Houston, TX – Sprinkler system helps contain warehouse fire near Bush Airport

Firefighters with the Houston Fire Department put out a warehouse fire near Bush Intercontinental Airport early Thursday morning.

Just after midnight, seven HFD units responded to the large fire at the warehouse on Lee Road at North Road.

Heavy smoke was coming from the warehouse where a pallet with merchandise on it somehow caught fire.

According to District 102 Chief Charles Medina, the sprinkler system inside the warehouse kept the fire contained.

If the sprinkler system hadn’t been in place, Chief Medina said, the fire could have become a 2-alarm or 3-alarm fire.

“That sprinkler really did helped out a lot. It kept (the fire) in check. And that’s what a sprinkler system does, it doesn’t completely extinguish it, but it does keep it in check.” he said.

There was merchandise from various businesses, like Amazon, inside the warehouse to be shipped by plane.

Medina said there was no structural damage and no injuries.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Oklahoma City, OK -Warehouse fire kept in check by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire at a warehouse in southwest Oklahoma City was quickly put out by crews Monday night.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department says the initial report of the fire was received by an alarm monitoring company.

Fire crews were requested and sent to the scene around 11:03 p.m. near SW 29th and Council.

When crews first arrived, they found visible smoke coming from the roof vents of the warehouse. Officials say were were also offices in the building.

The fire was found in the warehouse portion of the building, and likely started in an area where a cutting torch had been used earlier in the day.

OKCFD says the sprinkler system kept the fire from becoming too big.

Crews were able to quickly put the fire out.

There were no reports of any injuries.

Officials say the fire caused around $5,000 in damage.

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Storage / Warehouse

Wenatchee, WA – Sprinkler system helped fire crews knock down fire in commercial building

Chelan and Douglas County Firefighters were dispatched to a commercial structure fire on South Columbia Street this morning.  The building at 1028 South Columbia Street is owned by Mike Walker and was used mostly for storage “We were tearing out one of the walls and something sparked material in an old paint booth”  Walker said only one employee was inside and reported the fire after exiting the building.

Chelan County #1 Deputy Fire Chief Mike Burnett confirmed the likely cause.  He said the fire appeared to start when sparks or something ignited layers of old lacquer on the walls of a spray booth under demolition in the former cabinet shop.  Burnett said Lifeline Ambulance personnel who were first to arrive on scene reported smoke was billowing from an open bay door and exterior vents of the building.  There were no injuries.

An automatic sprinkler system helped fire crews knock down the flames and Burnett described the damage as minimal.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Stockton, CA – Sprinkler system keeps semitrailer fire from spreading into warehouse at packaging company

The cause and origin of a two-alarm fire Sunday night that burned two semitrailers, a train car and the roof of a nearby packaging warehouse in east Stockton remains under investigation today, according to the Stockton Fire Department.

The fire was called in at 8:17 p.m. as a warehouse fire, but when crews arrived they observed two semitrailers fully involved with flames extending to the nearby warehouse operated by Pflug Packaging at 1203 N. Gertrude Ave. in an industrial area north of East Fremont Street. A boxcar on a rail siding just west of the trailers also burned.

A Pflug spokeswoman said the impact of the fire on operations was “minimal.” No one but security personnel were on site at the time, the fire affected an empty corner of the large warehouse and the structure’s sprinkler system kept flames from spreading to palletized boxes inside.

Firefighters had the blaze under control within 30 minutes, the Fire Department reported. Department spokesman Jeff Whitlock said six engines, two truck companies, two battalion chiefs and the chief’s operator responded to the scene. The last unit remained for mop-up until about 10:45 p.m. No injuries were reported.

Manufacturing, Storage / Warehouse

Royersford, PA – Sprinkler system controls fire at chemical warehouse until fire crews arrive

A chemical warehouse in Royersford caught fire on Saturday night, bringing first responders from around the area together to battle the blaze.  The incident was first reported at around 7:40 p.m. at Hectrio Specialty Chemical System, located on the 400 block of First Avenue.  Crews forced entry to the rear of the building, and used hand lines to battle the blaze, which was contained to a small area in the manufacturing part of the building, according to officials. Firefighters were on the scene containing the smokey fire for close to two hours.

Royersford Fire Department said that the sprinkler systems were very effective in controlling the blaze until crews arrived. That, along with the swift response from first responders, helped quell the “potentially hazardous” blaze.  Despite the bad smell reported by neighbors, the chemicals posed no danger to the public, officials said. According to their website, Hectrio produces and stores chemicals like tin, lead, copper, silver, bismuth, iron and potassium.  The cause of the blaze and extent of the damage are not yet clear. The fire appeared to be contained to the manufacturing section of the warehouse, but there was heavy smoke involved.

Royersford Fire Department was assisted by Liberty Fire Co. of Spring City, along with crews from Trappe, Skippack, Limerick, and Linfield.