Department Store, Retail St. George, UT – Fire in break room at TJ Maxx store extinguished by sprinkler system May 10, 2017 viking210 Firefighters rolled out to a structure fire Sunday morning at a retail store that was extinguished by the time they arrived, thanks to an internal sprinkler system. “Sprinklers for us are life savers and building savers both,” St. George Fire Battalion Chief Darren Imlay said. Firefighters responded to a fire alarm at TJ Maxx, 42 S. River Road, around 6:20 a.m., Imlay said. When they arrived on scene the firefighters saw some light white smoke inside the building. Lights and alarms attached to a fire alarm were going off at the time and water was on the floor, signifying the sprinklers had gone off. The sprinklers had extinguished the fire before they arrived, Imlay said, leaving it to firefighters to reset the sprinkler system and alarm, as well as air out the building. The fire had started in an employee break room by a large vending machine. While sprinklers and alarms going off in commercial buildings is nothing new (sprinkler systems for fire suppression are required by standards set by the National Fire Protection Association), Imlay was nonetheless glad they were in play in this instance. “For us, that could have been a big, big fire,” he said, “but because it was a sprinklered building … the sprinklers activated and kept the building from burning down. Plus the alarm activated and we were notified through the alarm company, so we had a quick response there.” Though sprinklers systems for fire suppression may not be as common in residential units as they are in commercial ones, residents can still invest in smoke detectors (which can be acquired for free in some instances) and alarm systems that can alert police, fire and medical personnel to a potential emergency. The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire. A call into TJ Maxx’s St. George location Tuesday was answered by a recorded message stating the St. George store is currently closed for renovations and will have a grand reopening soon. This report is based on preliminary information provided by emergency responders who were at the scene and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant College Station, TX – Early morning fire at BBQ restaurant controlled by sprinkler system May 10, 2017 viking210 Rudy’s Barbecue in College Station had a fire scare early Wednesday morning. College Station Fire officials say people saw smoke coming from the building around midnight. The building’s sprinklers were activated; keep the fire under control until firefighters arrived. Officials say the fire was contained to the wooden fence outside of the building, and did not damage the inside of the restaurant. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Helena, MT – Afternoon fire at middle school extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries May 9, 2017 viking210 There will be no classes at C.R. Anderson Middle School on Tuesday due to a fire that caused damage on Monday. According to a press release from Helena Public Schools, the fire was reported at 2:59 p.m. There were no students in the building at the time, and there were no reported injuries. Currently there is no power and no phone service at the school. Just before 3 p.m. on Monday, the Helena Fire Department was dispatched to C.R.A. for a general fire alarm. When firefighters arrived they saw smoke coming from the west end door, so they evacuated the building. No students were in the building because it was an early release day. Fire officials said the building sprinkler system kept the fire contained and quickly extinguished. On Tuesday, the building will be closed to students, staff, and the public. All after-school activities for May 9th have been cancelled. The HPS says: “Due to water damage the status of the building will be assessed mid-day on Tuesday and a determination will be made regarding whether or not school will resume on Wednesday, May 10.” Late Monday afternoon, a professional crew was at the school to begin work on cleaning up the water damage. The cause of the fire is being investigated. The dollar amount of damage is not yet known. We will update you when we get more information.
Child Care Facility, Other Business Murray, UT – Early morning fire at day care facility contained by sprinkler system May 8, 2017 viking210 It could have been a whole lot worse. That’s what Murray fire investigators are saying about an early morning blaze that burned a detached classroom area at Almost Home Playcare, a children’s daycare facility located at 140 West Winchester Street. Deputy Chief Jon Harris told Gephardt Daily the fire started in a rubbish collection area outside a converted classroom. He said a lawnmower was also stored there. The flames spread quickly, scorching the exterior of the classroom before spreading into the attic. A sprinkler system did its job, however, not only saving the interior of the classroom, but also preventing the fire from spreading to the rest of the daycare. “If those sprinklers didn’t go off and there was nobody around, this would have been a whole different story,” Deputy Chief Harris said. Harris also credited the daycare’s alarm service for placing a call to dispatchers, letting them know that fire had broken out. Harris said investigators had yet to determine the cause of the fire although there were no indications of foul play.
Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise Calgary, AB, Canada – Sprinkler system stops high-rise balcony fire from entering building; No injuries reported May 7, 2017 viking210 Several floors of a southwest Calgary apartment building were evacuated Saturday night after a fire broke out on an upper storey balcony. Around 9:30 p.m., the Calgary Fire Department responded to several calls regarding visible flames coming off a balcony at the London Tower building in the 8000 block of Horton Road S.W. Calgary Fire Department Battalion Chief Alistair Tobin said residents in units two floors above and two floors below the fire were evacuated and placed onto city transit buses. No one was injured and fire crews managed to contain the fire and smoke damage to just one unit. “The sprinkler system worked perfect so it stopped the fire from entering the building much. The patio or the balcony was quite heavily damaged but the suite was protected by the sprinkler system,” Tobin said. Tobin said residents of six units were not allowed back into their homes last night. Everyone else who was evacuated was permitted to re-enter the building after the fire department completed its air quality monitoring. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Apartment Building, Residential Poughkeepsie, NY – Early morning apartment fire put out with help from sprinkler system; Fire started in closet May 1, 2017 viking210 An early morning apartment fire that began inside a closet was quickly put out with the help of a sprinkler system Monday, according to City of Poughkeepsie Fire Chief Mark Johnson. An automatic fire alarm at 4:15 a.m., shortly followed by a phone call, alerted firefighters to the fire at 150 Hudson Ave., Johnson said. Once on scene, firefighters discovered a fire in a first-floor apartment. Firefighters were met with heavy smoke, and heat from the fire had caused the sprinkler system to activate. The sprinkler system helped contain the fire, according to Johnson. The occupant of the apartment was not home at the time, Johnson said. No civilians or firefighters were injured. Firefighters from the Arlington Fire District and the Fairview Fire District assisted at the scene. All fire personnel had left the scene by 5:40 a.m., Johnson said. The fire is believed to have started “in a clothing closet,” he said, and its cause is under investigation by police and fire investigators.
Apartment Building, Residential Council Bluffs, IA – Apartment fire put out by sprinkler system May 1, 2017 viking210 One person was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries suffered in a Friday morning fire at a Council Bluffs apartment complex. Crews were called to the Deerfield Apartments in the 900 block of Franklin Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. Investigators say the fire started inside an apartment and was put out by the sprinkler system before they arrived on scene. There were four people inside the unit at the time. One of them was taken for treatment. Authorities say there is water damage to the apartment in which the fire originated and additional water damage to the unit below. There was no immediate word on the cause.
College/University (on campus), School / University Greencastle, IN – Fire in new dining hall building at DePauw University suppressed by sprinkler system April 30, 2017 viking210 A small fire early Saturday morning at Hoover Hall on the DePauw University campus occurred in a storage room on the lower level of the new dining hall in the center of campus. The fire was extinguished very quickly, DePauw officials said. The fire began at about 5:45 a.m. while no one was in the building but the safety system did its job, DPU spokesman Ken Owen told the Banner Graphic. Two sprinklers put out the bulk of the fire, he said, and a fire extinguisher was used once the Greencastle Fire Department arrived on the scene to fully put it out. No fire hoses were necessary in the incident. No damage estimate was available Saturday morning, however, damage was deemed “minimal” by DePauw officials. The fire created smoke and there was water left by the sprinklers, necessitating clean-up and the closing of the dining hall at least for Saturday breakfast. The sprinkler system must be recharged, Owen said. Because of that clean-up work, along with the need for the fire marshal to do his work to determine the cause of the fire, breakfast was not being served at Hoover but instead breakfast items were available at the convenience store in the Union Building. At 10 a.m., the Health Department gave DePauw clearance to reopen Hoover Hall. The plan at that time was to open Hoover Hall with a limited menu at noon Saturday. “All of us — the DePauw administration and our friends from the fire department and public safety — thank you and all students for their patience and understanding as we proceed today,” Owen said in a statement for the university. “I can’t say enough about the good work many people have performed in the early hours of a Saturday to make the process of recovering from this incident as quick and seamless as possible.” Hoover Hall is the DePauw’s new 48,600 square-foot dining hall which sits in the shadow of historic East College in the center of campus. It was formally dedicated last October. The $32 million project took 29 months to complete after ground was broken on May 17, 2014. The lead gift came from R. David and Suzanne A. Hoover, both 1967 graduates of DePauw.
Office Building, Other Business Quincy, MA – Fire on top floor of office building held in check by sprinkler system April 27, 2017 viking210 A blaze on the top floor of a Quincy office building kept firefighters busy early Wednesday morning. Firefighters responded to 300 Crown Colony Drive shortly before 1 a.m. to investigate a fire alarm in the building. When they arrived, they discovered that the sprinkler system was going off on the fifth floor, Quincy Fire Deputy Chief Ed Fenby said. Additional manpower and engines were called to the building. When they went up to investigate, dense black smoke was filling the suite belonging to MCMC LLC, a health insurance company. They forced their way into the locked office and found a power strip, computer and printer that were on fire, Fenby said. “The sprinkler kept it in check and they put out the rest of it and checked to make sure it didn’t get into the walls,” Fenby said. No one was believed to be in the building at the time of the fire and it is not considered suspicious. Because the windows of the building do not open, the fire department had to smash one of them in order to help ventilate the unit.
Other - Retail, Retail Langford, BC, Canada – Early morning fire at paint store controlled by sprinkler system April 26, 2017 viking210 A Langford paint store has its sprinkler system to thank for putting a stop to what could have been a devastating blaze. Flames broke out at Cloverdale Paint on Langford Parkway at around 4 a.m. Monday morning, according to Langford Fire Rescue. “When we arrived there was heavy smoke showing from the building,” said Asst. Fire Chief Chris Aubrey. “The sprinkler system had just activated and was containing the fire, but we did have to force the front door and make entry, and put the fire out.” It’s believed the blaze caused the store’s motion sensors to go off, activating the alarm. “Should there not have been a sprinkler system it would’ve been a very significant fire,” said Aubrey. The cause is not yet known but the fire isn’t considered suspicious, investigators said. Damage to the building is estimated to be approximately $75,000 and the store will remain closed for an unknown amount of time.
