“The sprinkler system actually kept the fire in check,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the sprinkler system, the damage would have been far, far worse. … It would have most likely spread to the adjacent businesses.”
Fire crews responded at 8:22 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a fire alarm activation at the Twin City Town Center on Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis, according to Lewis County 911 records.
While firefighters were on the way, they started getting reports of water flowing out of the affected business, then smoke.
“Just prior to arriving they saw a column coming up which bumped it up to a second alarm response,” Cardinale said.
Fire crews from Napavine to Thurston County responded, he said, and entered the Kobo Teriyaki building to find an active fire. The sprinkler system had kept the fire controlled, and firefighters quickly extinguished what remained. Crews were on site until about 11:45 p.m.
This is a huge point,” Cardinale said.
While builders might cringe at the added cost of a fire suppression system, Cardinale said, it doesn’t cost as much as they might think, and can potentially save a building in the event of a fire.
“Actually on residential new construction it only adds an additional 50 cents per square foot for a home,” he said. “The advantages of a sprinkler system is over 90 percent of the time if an occupancy has a sprinkler system and the fire does occur it will keep the fire in its incipient stage, or small stage, until firefighters arrive.”
Kobo Teriyaki’s building was damaged by the fire and smoke, and neighboring Rue 21 and PetSense both suffered water damage.
Cardinale said investigators were on the scene Wednesday morning, and that the preliminary investigation points to the fire being electrical in nature.
The fire likely caused $30,000 to $50,000 in damage, he added.
