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Kent, WA – Sprinkler system protects building from fire caused by spontaneous combustion

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A business’s sprinkler system did exactly what it was designed to do when it contained a small fire in the 18600 block of 72 Avenue South on Tuesday, the Kent Regional Fire Authority reported.

No one was in the business at the time of the fire, though firefighters checked neighboring businesses as a precaution.

The system, which also sent a signal of a possible fire to the alarm company that monitored it, activated at 5:30 a.m. The closest emergency unit to the call was a fire engine from Tukwila. When they arrived, they found water coming from inside the large two-story, concrete tilt-up building. Because they knew that a sprinkler head had activated, they upgraded the incident to a “commercial fire,” which brought a full fire response.

Once additional firefighters from the Kent RFA and Renton RFA were able to get inside the building they found it filled with smoke, which made locating the fire more difficult. Once they found the seat of the fire, they were able to extinguish it quickly and shut down the sprinkler system to reduce additional water damage.

A fire investigator determined that there were two locations at the business where fire started. One was inside, which activated the sprinkler system, and one was on an exterior loading dock.

The cause of the fire was spontaneous combustion, after paper and filtering material, which were both saturated with paint, were placed in containers, fire officials said. Certain materials, when in a limited space, can self-generate heat until they catch fire. Paints, oils and compost are common causes of this type of combustion.

The fire is considered accidental.

2 thoughts on “Kent, WA – Sprinkler system protects building from fire caused by spontaneous combustion”

  1. It’s amazing how much fire sprinklers go unappreciated, but they really do so much. I’ve experienced the occasional house fire, but of course I don’t have fire sprinklers in my house to protect me. Those people are lucky that they went off when they did and that the firemen were able to get there quickly. Thanks for sharing this story.

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