Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Waldorf, MD – Overnight fire at Marriott Courtyard hotel put out by sprinkler system; No injuries

A small fire caused an estimated $10,000 in damages to the interior of the Courtyard by Marriott in Waldorf around 2:03 a.m. today. The 3 story hotel is located at 3145 Crain Highway, Waldorf.

A hotel employee was alerted by the fire alarm. The sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire.  The one alarm fire involved 40 firefighters from the Waldorf VFD and took approximately 5 minutes to bring under control.

There were no injuries or deaths.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Cambridge, ON, Canada – Fire at high school extinguished by sprinkler system

Fire crews were called to Preston High School shortly after 1 p.m., after being notified of fire alarms going off inside the building. When they arrived, they found that the school had been evacuated.

According to Cambridge Fire Department platoon Chief Brad Churchill, crews entered the building to find that its sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, but heavy smoke persisted in a corridor and stairwell at the back of the building.

One staff member was taken to hospital, to be treated for symptoms of smoke inhalation. Firefighters spent much of the afternoon at the school, ventilating the building.  After being allowed back in to pick up their belongings, students were sent home for the rest of the afternoon.

Churchill said the evacuation went off “like clockwork” because the school regularly practiced fire drills. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Portland, ME – Apartment kitchen fire suppressed by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A section of Congress Street in Portland was shut down for several hours last Tuesday after a kitchen fire set off a sprinkler system in a downtown apartment building. Deputy Fire Chief John Everett said a flash fire broke out on a stove in a fourth-floor kitchen at 439 Congress St. around 2 p.m.

Though the fire caused minor damage, it set off the sprinkler system in the Metropolitan Apartments. Everett said water from the fire suppression system caused damage to the kitchen and two apartments below it as well as to businesses located on the first floor.

Firefighters spent more than three hours in the building vacuuming up water and covering items that were damaged by the water.  Congress Street between Elm and Temple streets remained closed for more than three hours.

Apartment Building, Residential

Saskatoon, SK, Canada – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in extinguishing early morning apartment fire

At around 1:40 a.m. CST, the Saskatoon Fire Department responded to a call of smoke coming from an apartment complex on the 1300 block of 20th Street W. A mattress had caught fire in the building and its occupants were forced outside. Ventilation fans were put in place to clear the smoke after firefighters were able to put out the fire with the help of an existing water sprinkler head. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this point.

Residential High Rise, Townhouse / Condominium

Highland Beach, FL – Fire at oceanfront high-rise condominium building controlled with help from sprinkler system

Delray Beach Fire Rescue was called to an oceanfront Highland Beach high-rise condominium last Sunday afternoon when a fire started in a fourth-floor unit. No one was injured in the fire, according to Delray Beach Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Kevin Saxton.

“The fire is out, but there is significant water damage to the building because of the sprinkler activation and our suppression effort,” Saxton said. Saxton said he did not yet know what started the fire in the unit at the Wiltshire House Condominiums, 2909 South Ocean Blvd. The call alerting the fire was made at about 3:45 p.m.

Apartment Building, Residential

Longmont, CO – Automatic sprinkler system douses apartment fire; No injuries

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One person was displaced after a fire Sunday at a Longmont apartment complex at 630 Peck Drive, according to the Red Cross. Longmont fire went out on a report of a fire alarm around 11 a.m. and found an automatic sprinkler system had doused a fire in an apartment on the second floor, said Longmont Fire Department spokeswoman Molly Crop.

She said no one was home at the time, except a dog in the bedroom that wasn’t injured, but there was significant smoke and water damage. “The sprinklers did their job,” she said.  The Red Cross is providing emergency lodging for the resident.

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

New York, NY – Early morning residence hall fire at Columbia University contained by sprinkler system; No injuries

A small fire broke out in a fifth-floor suite of Elliott Hall at 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, with water damage from the sprinkler response affecting rooms on the second through fifth floors of the building.

After students were evacuated from the building following the sounding of the first alarm early Sunday morning, the Diana Center was opened for residents of Elliott Hall to wait in while the building was inspected by Public Safety, according to a resident assistant in Elliott Hall.

The building was cleared for students to re-enter at around 3:30 a.m., but due to the sprinkler system’s response to the fire, the rooms immediately adjacent to the source, as well as the ones located several floors below it experienced flooding. A Barnard spokesperson confirmed that some administrative offices and hallway carpeting were affected by water damage.

According to the RA, who wished to remain anonymous because RAs are prohibited by Residential Life to speak to the press, the flooding was caused by the sprinkler in the source room and not by multiple sprinklers.

Residents living on the fifth floor near the room where the fire began said that aside from some smoke and ash in their rooms, they experienced no significant damage.

The RA said that there was a second fire alert after the building was reopened, but that they thought that it had to do with the alert system and was not indicative of a second fire. It did, however, drive some students from the building for the night.

Fifth-floor resident Maya Edwards, BC ’17, said that, although she did not leave for the night, she knew of students who left to stay with friends in other buildings.

Although Barnard’s emergency alert notification system was not used for the fire, the RA said that they didn’t think that was a problem.

“I feel like it was very contained so I feel like it wasn’t the same magnitude as in the 600s,” the RA said, referencing last year’s fire in 600 West 116th Street.

Facilities is still working to address the problems caused by the flooding, but the building is fully operational, a Barnard spokesperson confirmed

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Myrtle Beach, SC – Cooking fire at extended stay hotel extinguished by sprinkler system

A small fire sparked by french fries cooking on a stove in a first-floor hotel room at the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel in Myrtle Beach led to smoke inhalation and an evacuation Monday afternoon.

The Myrtle Beach Fire Department was dispatched to the hotel at 730 Frontage Road E. at 1:18 p.m. for a fire alarm. “The first unit on scene found smoke in room 145 and then they requested structure (fire) response,” said Battalion Chief Ian Maxwell with the Myrtle Beach Fire Department.

A sprinkler system in the hotel extinguished the fire, he said. Several units were on scene Monday afternoon dealing with the water mitigation issues that remained after the emergency that evacuated residents and left one guest with minor smoke inhalation. The guest was treated on scene.  No other injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Fayetteville, NC – Apartment balcony fire contained with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

Fayetteville firefighters are investigating a fire that broke out in an apartment building Monday afternoon, a Fayetteville Fire Department news release said. Firefighters responded to an apartment fire at 12:38 p.m. in the 2800 block of Amelia Drive, off of Levy Drive, off of Robeson Street, the release said.

The apartment complex is near Ashley Elementary School. Firefighters arrived and found a fire on the second floor balcony of the three-story apartment building, the release said.

Firefighters contained the fire to the exterior of the building with assistance from the fire sprinkler system, the release said. There were no injuries and no families were displaced by the fire, the release said. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Macon, GA – (READER REPORTED) 8th floor fire contained to one apartment with help from sprinklers

***Thank you to a Sprinkler Saves reader who pointed out that sprinklers helped contain this fire to a single apartment.***

The Macon-Bibb Fire Department is still at an apartment complex after a fire started on the eighth floor Monday night.

The fire started around 6 o’clock at the Dempsey Apartments, located at 523 Cherry Street.

“There was significant damage to the floor,” chief Marvin Riggins said. “Fire investigators are checking to see if other floors were affected, and how the fire started.”

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