Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Temecula, CA – Overnight fire at women’s health clinic extinguished by sprinkler system

A Temecula women’s clinic was damaged in a possible arson fire Wednesday, but no one was injured. Firefighters were called out just after 1 a.m. to a reported fire inside FPA Women’s Health at 41715 Winchester Road after an alarm company was alerted, according to officials. The fire was extinguished by the time crews arrived on scene, apparently by a sprinkler system at the location, officials said.

Department Store, Retail

Cedar Park, TX – Arson fire at Walmart suppressed by automatic sprinkler system

“Lots of black smoke just radiating from that area,” described Jackie Sinclair, who was inside Walmart early Wednesday morning as flames shot up to the ceiling. The fire happened at the store on 201 Walton Way in Cedar Park around 1:44 a.m. Sinclair posted video to Facebook of the flames, which appear to be in an aisle behind the watches and jewelry section. Cedar Park Fire Department says two separate fires were set inside, one near the apparel and another in the vacuum aisle. Police are investigating it as arson.

“How did this happen?” Sinclair says on the video. “Time to go — that’s a little too big for my taste.” Sinclair said she had just gotten off work and was stopping by Walmart to get some groceries and avoid the crowds. “That’s crazy, like I’ve never seen nothing like that before, so I didn’t really understand what was going on.”

Police do have a suspect who has been interviewed, but not arrested. Investigators say it is not a Walmart employee. “It is unusual, of course, I don’t know a lot of details of the motive right now,” explains Randle Blesing, fire marshal for the Cedar Park Fire Department. Blesing says three sprinkler heads went off, putting out most of the flames. Walmart employees evacuated the store. “Thirty seconds in, I was like in, I shot the video and I was out, I did not want to stay in there,” recalls Sinclair.

No one was hurt. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The store will remain closed until further notice so staff can assess the damage. Walmart says employees at the Cedar Park store are being reassigned to nearby stores so they can still work and won’t lose any hours.

People have set fires in other Walmart stores before. A quick Google search turns up more than a dozen in the past few years. The damage can be expensive. Two years ago, fires in a West Virginia Walmart caused more than $2 million in losses. Police arrested and charged two 12-year-old boys for starting those fires.

Last year, a man lit a fireworks display on fire inside a Walmart in Phoenix. No one was hurt, but the store sustained several million dollars worth of water and fire damage. Police arrested a suspect a few months later and charged him with arson.

Apartment Building, Residential

Hutchinson, KS – Sprinkler system activates to help contain apartment fire; No injuries reported

Dozens of residents at the Tierra Verde Apartments waited for an American Red Cross overnight shelter Wednesday after a third story apartment fire caused the building to be evacuated. Hutchinson Fire Department Deputy Chief Doug Hanen said calls came in at 5:23 p.m. and firefighters were able to contain the fire to the living room of the apartment within 20 minutes of arriving. He didn’t believe anyone was in the apartment when the fire started. Hanen said no one was one was injured, but water damage caused by the sprinkler system and the fire hose affected most apartments in the 28-apartment complex on Avenue A.

“There’s a lot of people going to be displaced tonight,” Hanen said. He did not have a count at the time. The cause of the fire was still under investigation. Hanen said the department responded with six fire engines, two trucks and a total of 28 personnel. “We had everybody,” he said. The Tierra Verde Apartments were built in 2008. The two-bedroom apartments are part of New Beginnings.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Granbury, TX – Laundry fire at senior living facility doused by sprinkler system

Automatic fire alarms began going off at around 9:30 p.m. last Sunday at the Lakestone Senior Living facility on Highway 377 in Granbury, according to city of Granbury Public Information Officer Bethany Warner.  The fire started in a dryer in the main laundry, Warner said. The building’s sprinkler system limited the fire to the dryer and there was minimal damage to the laundry room, she said. Residents were let back into the building about 15 to 20 minutes after evacuations began, she said.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

View Royal, BC, Canada – Condominium fire suppressed by home fire sprinkler system

Fire crews from both View Royal and Colwood responded to alarm bells ringing at the Four Pillars condo complex on Watkiss Way at 9:40 a.m. Friday.  The fire started in a bedroom and was caused by unattended candles and incense.

“If this hadn’t been a sprinkled building, this would have been a significantly different event,” said View Royal Fire Chief Paul Hurst. “Thankfully the sprinklers kicked in and controlled the fire. It’s a good outcome today.”

Under provincial building code regulations this structure would not have been required to have fire sprinklers but thanks to the Town of View Royal’s proactive fire sprinkler bylaw, the damage was contained. This bylaw requires all new construction of duplexes or larger in the town to have fire sprinklers.

Officials say the fire was contained quickly, but there was some water damage and crews remained on scene to help salvage items, tarp other units and vacuum up the water. A neighbouring suite also experienced some water damage.

Three people in the suite were able to escape with no injuries and the displaced residents will be helped by Emergency Social Services with finding accommodations until their insurance can assess the damage.

Hurst noted the suite is not livable and temporary accommodations have been made for the family.

B.C. Ambulance Service, West Shore RCMP and BC Hydro were also on scene.

Retail

Blenheim, ON, Canada – Fire at tire store held in check by sprinkler system

There is still no word on how extensive the damage is after a fire broke out at the Canadian Tire store in Blenheim on Thursday morning. According to a spokesperson for the CK fire department, the damage estimate is still under review “due to the complexities of smoke and water damage.” The investigation continues but Chatham-Kent fire officials are confident it was an accident.

The fire started in the middle of the store and as firefighters began to extinguish the blaze, the sprinkler system discharged and contained the fire. “This incident has proven once again that fire suppression systems such as sprinklers provide another layer of defense against the dangers of fire,” says Assistant Chief Chris Case. “The activation of the system in this case managed to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading. Systems such as these protect lives and livelihoods.”

The fire department says automatic sprinkler systems have sustained an enviable record of protecting life and property for over 100 years. Yet, there are still common misunderstandings about the operation and effectiveness of automatic fire sprinkler systems.

“A number of people believe that water damage from a sprinkler system will be more extensive than fire damage or that when a fire occurs every sprinkler head goes off,” explains Public Educator, Whitney Burk. “This is not the case as water damage from a building sprinkler system is less severe than the damage caused by a fire that is able to spread and sprinkler heads are individually activated by temperature.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Farmers Branch, TX (No Media Coverage) – Cooking fire at multifamily home doused by single sprinkler head

***NO MEDIA – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED***On November 16, 2017, Farmers Branch Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire at a multifamily residential apartment building located at 11700 Luna Rd. (Bldg 4) in Farmers Branch. Forty apartment units are within Building 4. The Farmers Branch Fire Department discovered a kitchen fire had been extinguished prior to their arrival by a single 25 gallon per minute residential sprinkler head.

Occupant reported that she was cooking breakfast in a skillet and stepped away from the kitchen for a few minutes. Upon returning to the kitchen, she observed the frying pan on fire and extending upward to the microwave. Sprinkler head activated. Her husband was in the shower at the time of the fire. Fire damage was estimated at $1,050. Multiple lives were saved by a single sprinkler head activation.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Fairfax, VA – No injuries as sprinkler system contains fire at university apartments

Residents of an apartment building in the City of Fairfax have been displaced after a two-alarm fire.

Just before 11:00 a.m. Monday, the Fairfax City Fire Department, backed up by Fairfax County Fire crews, got called to the 4300 block of Bob Court at the Eaves Apartments.

City of Fairfax Fire Department Assistant Chief Andy Vita said, “Somebody on the outside of the building saw the smoke and fire, alerted 9-1-1, which allowed our folks to get here quickly.”

If a fire is going to happen, late morning is actually better because residents are less likely to be home, he said.

But in this case, the apartment complex near George Mason University is home to several college students and many were still asleep at the time.

“He didn’t even wake up. I had to wake him up,” said Peter Milonas, referring to his twin brother Chris.

The Milonas brothers live on the building’s first floor. They and their neighbors – in 12 different units – have now been forced to vacate their apartments due to fire damage or water damage.

“The fire activated the sprinkler system and it started to suppress it. So it kept it in check for our folks to be able to operate efficiently,” Vita said.

Vita added that everyone got out safely; no residents or firefighters were injured. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Augusta, GA – Sprinkler system keeps grass fire from spreading indoors at assisted living facility

A fire forced the Homestead Assisted Living Center in Augusta to be evacuated. It happened around noon Monday. 

The Augusta Department of  Public Safety told KSN News they determined that the fire began as a grass fire outside the facility.  A sprinkler went off and contained the fire inside the building.

Thirty residents were evacuated by staff for about an hour before they were allowed to return to the facility. No injuries were reported.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Thunder Bay, ON, Canada – Sprinkler system extinguishes oil fire at sawmill

On November 20, 2017 , at approximately 3:30 pm, Thunder Bay Fire Rescue Service responded to the Resolute Saw Mill for a fire involving the heating system for the lumber drying kilns.

A total response of five pumpers and an aerial ladder, carrying twenty-one firefighters responded.

A power failure to the mill caused the circulating pump for the hot oil from the boiler to stop functioning. The circulating system was over pressured and the oil caught fire. The sprinkler system activated and extinguished the flames but the system remained pressurized and overheated.

After conferring with onsite staff, a plan was formulated to not interfere with the heating system and to let it cool naturally. Fire crews remained on scene until the oil had cooled to a safe temperature and the mill staff was confident the danger of fire or explosion had passed.

Staff will continue to monitor the system overnight and make assessments as to damage and repair costs in the morning.

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