Apartment Building, Residential

Harris Hill, NY – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in attacking apartment kitchen fire

Harris Hill Volunteer Fire Company responded to a building fire at 4155 Capstone Ct. last Sunday. Shortly after 2 p.m., Harris Hill fire crews arrived on location after Amherst Fire Control, a fire alarm monitoring company, reported a sprinkler activation. Harris Hill Chief Michael Schreiber reported fire in the kitchen area.

Fire crews advanced one hose line to extinguish the flames, while assisting crews from Main-Transit Fire Department, East Amherst Fire Department and Bowmansville Volunteer Fire Association provided standby coverage at the Harris Hill firehouse. The Erie County Sheriff’s Office and Clarence fire inspector are currently investigating the cause of the blaze. Reported damages to the property include $35,000 to the contents and $5,000 to the structure.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Houston, MS – Sprinkler system keeps arson fire at high school from spreading

One person is in custody after a break in and arson at Houston High School Friday morning. According to Houston Fire Captain Jonathan Blankenship, the call came in at 2:22 a.m. Houston Police Chief Billy Voyles confirmed there was a fire and water damage to the school, as well as extensive vandalism damage to parts of the school. Patrick Nichols, 20, has been arrested and faces felony charges. He’s a recent graduate of the school and was still inside the school when police arrived on the scene.

Some of the vandalism includes damage to the school’s technology, which school officials estimate to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. “There was water damage. The sprinklers went off. There was a fire set in the old home economics room, and lots of glass broken, lots of technology destroyed,” Houston School District Superintendent Tony Cook said.

Cook says the busted technology will not only cost the district a lot of money but could hurt school testing, which is coming up soon. “The fire was started in one of the back rooms. They had a stove in the room. The subject piled some books on top of the stove and apparently turned the stove on to start the fire,” said Blakenship. However, the school’s sprinkler system kept the fire from getting out of hand.

Voyles says Nichols met an officer at the front door of the school and was detained. “He opened the door for the officers, and the officer didn’t know if he was an employee or whatever it was,” Voyles said. The motive for the incident is still under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Baton Rouge, LA – Sprinkler system activates to assist firefighters in apartment blaze

The St. George Fire Protection District was called to the Addison Apartments on Tuesday afternoon to battle a kitchen fire.  According to Chad Roberson of St. George Fire, a fire alarm was reported around 2 p.m at the Addison Apartments.  Firefighters arrived at the building located at 10231 The Grove Blvd and found a fire in the kitchen area of apartment 210.  Roberson said, the sprinkler system activated and controlled the fire.

There were no injuries reported and the fire was under control 20 minutes after firefighters received the call.  Both the first and second floor of the building sustained water damage.  East Baton Rouge EMS and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office assisted St. George Fire at the scene. The fire is still under investigation and further information will be provided when it becomes available.

Other Business

Fallston, MD – Fire that started in movie theater popcorn machine controlled with help from spinklers

A small fire inside a movie theater Tuesday, prompted an emergency response from local fire stations.  Just before 11:30 a.m., Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance along with the Joppa – Magnolia Fire Company responded to the Horizon Cinemas located at 2315 Bel Air Road in Fallston.  Upon arrival, units discovered one of the buildings sprinkler systems activated after a popcorn machine caught fire.  No injuries were reported according to Chief Dave Williams, of Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Company.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Pasco, WA – Early morning warehouse fire contained by sprinkler system; Firefighters finish the job

Firefighters are now investigating an early morning warehouse fire in Pasco. Firefighters responded to the 1400 block of Foster Wells Rd. around 1:30 this morning, after a warehouse caught on fire.
The building houses cardboard boxes, spices and chemicals used in the local packing houses. Firefighters say that the building’s sprinkler system prevented the fire from spreading beyond the pile of cardboard caught on fire. Crews will be on scene for a while clearing the smoke and checking for hot spots. So far, there are no injuries at this time.

Auto Dealership, Other Business

Bismarck, ND – Fire at auto body shop extinguished by sprinkler system; Business resumes operations quickly

A fire, caused by welding sparks which ignited the filters of a spray booth ventilation system at an auto body shop, was largely contained by the business’ sprinklers on Tuesday. The Bismarck Fire Department was dispatched at about 4:23 p.m. to the 1800 block of Commerce Drive, where heavy smoke was showing from the shop area of the single-story building.

Fire had spread to the roof top HVAC system, but flames inside the shop had been extinguished by the activation of two heads on the fire sprinkler system, according to Owen Fitzsimmons, a fire marshal with the Bismarck Fire Department, who deemed the incident was accidental. Fire crews removed a roof top ventilation fan and a portion of the roof to access and extinguish the blaze. Afterward, a thermal imaging camera was used to scan for any fire spread, and firefighters left the scene at about 7:24 p.m.

Bismarck Police Department assisted with scene control. Metro Area Ambulance was on scene to provide assistance. There were no injuries to building occupants or firefighters. The sprinkler system has been reactivated, the business remains in operation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Columbia, MD – Apartment kitchen fire put out by sprinkler system

A fire overnight in Columbia sent one person to the hospital, according to officials. Authorities said Thursday morning that the victim’s injuries were minor.  Firefighters were called to a residence in the 5400 block of Cedar Lane for an automatic fire alarm, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.  At the location, crews found a small kitchen fire that had been put out by the sprinkler system in the building.

One resident was taken to Howard County General Hospital with what officials said were minor injuries.

Apartment Building, Residential

Cleburne, TX – Fire in apartment at historic building contained to room of origin by sprinkler system

Cleburne firefighters say that an apartment fire in a historic downtown building was limited to the room of origin thanks to the building’s sprinkler system. That said, firefighters also noted that the building’s sprinkler system appears to be “substandard and poorly installed.”

Firefighters responded at 6:43 p.m. to the 400 block of East Henderson Street on reports of an earlier fire already extinguished. The fire originated in the kitchen of an apartment on the building’s second floor because of a pan of unattended oil on the stove top. The occupants told firefighters they went downstairs to eat but returned to find that the pan of oil had caught fire and spread to the microwave oven and cabinets above the stove, according to reports.

The occupants were unable to shut the sprinkler system off, which resulted in water damage to the kitchen area and the apartment below. Cleburne Assistant Fire Chief Keith Scarbrough said the fire may have caused far more damage but for the sprinkler system.

“Sprinkler systems work,” Scarbrough said. “Statistics from across the U.S. show that they put fires out 97 percent of the time. Of the other 3 percent, 1 percent is because of mechanical failure like weather or freezing temperatures.

“The other 1 percent is because someone turns them off and the last 1 percent is because the fire’s too big for the sprinkler’s capacity. That’s instances where someone originally used the building for offices or something like that and installed a system to handle that but later repurposed the use of the building, like making it a warehouse or paint processing facility and didn’t upgrade the sprinkler system to suit the new purpose.

“But, in my career here, I’ve seen three earlier instances where sprinkler systems almost certainly saved buildings from being lost, two school fires, a manufacturing plant fire and now this fire.

“Sprinkler systems are one of the most effective fire fighting processes available, which is why all businesses and even homes should have them.”

Firefighters responded to an industrial oven fire at 12:38 a.m. Saturday in the 200 block of West Industrial Boulevard to find heavy smoke emitting from the roof level of the plant.

Excess materials within the system caused the plant’s industrial ovens to catch fire. Workers on scene extinguished some but not all the fire having to quit because of heavy smoke. Cleburne firefighters completed the task and remained on scene until the ovens cooled sufficiently.

Firefighters responded to reports of a possible house fire at 8:05 p.m. March 2 in the 1700 block of Shawnee Drive.

Homeowners told firefighters they left a pot of chicken unattended on the stove. They turned the stove off and removed the chicken but the incident filled the home with smoke.

Firefighters checked but found no signs of heat or fire in the house. They set fans to clear the house of smoke and made note that the pot contained a burned chicken.

Apartment Building, Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Tucson, AZ – Fire at college student apartment put out by sprinkler system

Thanks to a sprinkler system both lives and property was saved from a fire on Tuesday, March 13 according to a news release from the Tucson Fire Department.  An alarm sounded around 5 p.m. Tuesday, notifying the 911 center of a possible fire on the 6th floor of an apartment complex in the 300 block of East Congress. TFD sent a truck to investigate the alarm and when firefighters arrived they found the sprinkler system was on and working.

Fire crews shut down the sprinklers and put stops in the two sprinklers that activated, according to the release. They also treated a resident at the scene, who was initially hurt by the fire.

According to the release, the resident, a college student, had been cooking dinner when he stepped in for a quick shower while his dinner simmered. However a short time later the student heard the alarm going off and ran to the kitchen. He attempted to put the fire out, but the fire had spread to the point where he wasn’t able to stop it, at that point the sprinkler system kicked in.

Both the student in the apartment where the fire was and the unit below it will be displaced until the water and fire damage can be repaired. Crews shut down the sprinkler system once the fire was out. This means the sprinkler system is out of service, leaving the building vulnerable. A Tucson Fire inspector was called to the scene to ensure the property would be protected until the sprinkler system could be reactivated and placed back in service.

Apartment Building, Residential

McKinney, TX – Sprinkler activation stops apartment kitchen fire

The McKinney Fire Department (MFD) responded to a water flow alarm at 3300 N. McDonald St. this afternoon. A cooking fire went out of control, but before it could spread, the fire sprinkler system kicked in. It took one sprinkler head to stop the fire.

FEMA reports more than half of all residential fires are due to cooking. No other risk factor comes close.

Ways to prevent a kitchen fire:

– Never leave cooking food unattended.

– Use a timer so you’ll remember the stove or oven is on.

– Always check the kitchen before leaving the home or going to bed.

– Enforce a ‘kid-free zone” at least three feet from the stove.

– Install a smoke alarm near your kitchen and near sleeping areas.

“Keep your cooking areas clean of grease and clear of flammable clutter like pot holders or food packaging,” said Mike Smith, McKinney Fire Marshal. “A few steps can save you a serious injuries or damage.”

Simple Share Buttons