A small kitchen fire broke out in a third-floor unit of the RainCity Housing on Yale Road.

It was doused quickly by the building’s own automatic sprinklers putting the kibosh on any major damage – before fire crews even arrived.

Chilliwack Fire Department got the call at about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday (Feb. 28) about the fire in the 45000-block of Yale Rd, according to Assistant Chief Chris Wilson. Firefighters responded from Halls 1 and 4, and gained access to a third floor unit where they discovered a small fire in the kitchen area.

“The fire had been extinguished by the building’s automatic fire sprinkler system prior to the arrival of fire crews, which significantly limited fire damage to a small area around the kitchen cabinets,” assistant chief Wilson said.

“Without a working sprinkler system in place, this fire had the potential of causing extensive fire, smoke and water damage to the unit.”

Chilliwack Fire had nothing but praise for preventative measures like alarms and sprinkler systems.

“The presence of an automatic fire sprinkler system in conjunction with a working smoke alarm greatly reduces the chance of being injured or dying in a fire, and also significantly improves public and firefighter health and safety by reducing the chance of injury and exposure to harmful contaminants and carcinogens.”

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries reported.