Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

Honolulu, HI – High rise apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Honolulu firefighters rushed to a Kinau Street apartment early Thursday following reports of an odor of smoke. According to the Honolulu Fire Department, more than 10 firefighters were dispatched around 1:30 a.m. to Kinau Vista located at 1150 Kinau Street. Upon arrival at 1:35 a.m., they discovered that an activated sprinkler head extinguished a fire that broke out earlier. HFD did not have further details regarding the fire, but there were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire and damage estimates are under investigation.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Victoria, BC, Canada – Fire at Indian restaurant contained by sprinkler system

Patrons of Saaz will be able to enjoy the restaurant’s south Indian cuisine again, perhaps as early as June 30, an owner said Wednesday.

Co-owner Raj Gupta said building assessors and insurance adjusters are only beginning to look over the fire and water damage, estimated at $150,000. But Gupta said Saaz, at 535 Yates St., near Wharf Street, could reopen as early as the end of the month if damage is not too extensive and repairs and renovations can be completed.

Nobody was injured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Gupta said he has received a number of calls from people sad to the hear news of the fire. “Hopefully, everything will come back,” he said.

The fire broke out just after 11 p.m. Monday, after the restaurant, which opened in 2013 and specializes in the cuisine of southern India, had closed for the night.

Price’s Alarms alerted firefighters to an alarm on the premises, while someone called 911 reporting possible flames. Victoria police also advised the fire department of flames seen from the rear of Bastion Square. Firefighters arrived and broke down a nearby door, smashing out the glass.

The restaurant’s sprinklers had activated and kept the fire contained, said Battalion Chief Dave Bicknell, and firefighters were able to extinguish the flames within minutes. The fire started in an area used as a busing station and for storage, he said. According to the Victoria Fire Department, the fire began in an area used as a busing station and for storage.

A few hours after the Saaz blaze, a small fire was reported at 701 Esquimalt Rd., across from Dalton Street in Vic West. Victoria firefighters responded about 3 a.m. to the report of smoke in the building. Upon arrival, crews found light smoke in the basement and the ground floor of the apartment building. It turned out a chair in a common area of the basement had been smouldering.

The apartment’s manager discovered it and moved it to the rear parking lot. Fire crews removed the smoke with fans. Residents were able to return to their suites once the smoke had cleared.

Apartment Building, Residential

Elgin, IL – (NO MEDIA COVERAGE) Sprinkler activates to extinguish apartment kitchen fire

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE — FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED **

On Wednesday, June 8th, 2016 at 6:35p.m., members of the Elgin Fire Department responded to 717 West Highland for an automatic fire alarm.

Upon arrival fire companies found a moderate smoke condition on the 4th floor with smoke coming from apartment 405.  It was quickly determined the sprinkler in the apartment had activated and extinguished the fire that was located in the kitchen.

A total of seven Elgin Fire companies responded to the scene and there were no civilian or fire department injuries sustained during the incident.

The cause of the fire was determined to be unattended cooking on a stove using grease. Total damage was estimated to be approximately $5,000.

The Elgin Fire Department would like to remind its citizens to never leave food cooking unattended on a stove.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Pekin, IL – Sprinklers hold arson fire in check at popular restaurant and tavern

An employee of a popular restaurant and tavern allegedly asked another for advice on how to set it on fire — now he is charged with arson.

The combination of flaming stove burners and cooking oil, left atop the stove and spread on walls, caused minor damage to Goodfellas Pub & Pizza on Wednesday, though the business remained closed Monday.

That obvious evidence of arson and his own statements led police on Friday to arrest Scott Sutherland, 34, of Pekin. He was charged in bonding court Sunday and remained in custody Monday on $10,000 bond.

Sutherland’s alleged plan to destroy the business at 1414 N. Eighth St. “didn’t work out the way he thought it would,” Pekin Deputy Fire Chief Brian Cox said Monday. Cooking oil “is not very flammable.”

Sutherland, a bartender and cook, told a fellow employee sometime before the fire “about moving to Texas and burning the business down,” and asked her if she knew how to set it on fire, according to a prosecutor’s court affidavit.

Loud and electronic alarms set off by a sprinkler system alerted an officer in the area of the North Eighth Street Plaza, where Goodfellas is located, and firefighters to the smoldering flames in the business shortly before noon.

While other businesses in the plaza were evacuated, the sprinklers kept the fire “in check until we got there,” Cox said.  Firefighters discovered that all of the restaurant’s kitchen burners had been left on full blast, as well as its broiler and a fryer, the affidavit stated. A box of cooking oil sat on one of the burners, while more oil was smeared on walls where evidence of fire also was found.

Sutherland allegedly prepared what he thought would turn into a huge blaze more than six hours earlier, after the business closed for the night.

The restaurant’s security video equipment was missing, but video from another security system in the area recorded a man identified as Sutherland in the building between 4 and 5 a.m., “holding electronic equipment and pouring a substance on hallway walls,” the affidavit stated.  

Several employees said Sutherland was the last worker to leave Goodfellas the night before the fire and had keys to the business, the affidavit stated.

Sutherland told police Friday that he didn’t remember setting the fire and didn’t do so on purpose, but thought it might have been “a drunken mistake,” the affidavit stated.

He said he had returned to the business after closing to retrieve his apartment keys. He slipped on grease on the kitchen floor and bumped the stove, but didn’t think he turned it on.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Barnstable, MA – Kitchen fire at large apartment complex extinguished by sprinkler system

A kitchen fire activated the sprinkler system on the third floor of a large apartment complex in Barnstable around 8 p.m. Monday. The initial reports prompted a second alarm response to the Village Green Apartments at 767 Independence Drive. The fire was out on arrival but crews checked to make sure the fire hadn’t extended to the attic. No injuries were reported. The Red Cross was called to provide temporary housing for the occupants of the apartment.

Apartment Building, Residential

Savannah, GA – Sprinkler system limits spread of cooking fire at large apartment complex; No injuries reported

(As reported by WTVM ABC news 9).  About 10 people have been displaced at the Oaks at Brandlewood after a cooking fire triggered the fire alarm and the sprinkler system. All that water seeped through the floors and into a few units on the first floor. The American Red Cross was called out to help those families until they are dried up and can return.

Residential, Single Family Home

Santa Rosa Beach, FL – House fire caused by lightening strike limited by sprinkler system

… The third call was for a reported direct lightning strike of a home on Dill Ave in the Rosemary Beach area. Crews were able to contain the fire damage to the attic. The home’s sprinkler system also helped limit the damage. All of the structures were occupied when lightning hit, but no injuries were reported.

There were no immediate damage estimates. The Bay County Fire Department and Destin Fire Control District provided mutual aid.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Prescott, AZ – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at senior living facility; Fire started in fan motor

… the second fire of the day (Friday) occurred shortly before 6pm when residents of the Casa De Pinos senior living facility on Cory Avenue reported activated fire alarms in the building and smoke coming from a third floor apartment. The building poses challenges to firefighters due to its limited access and the lack of a standpipe water system in the stairwell.

The first arriving engine company had to lower hose from a third story window back to the engine so it could pump the hose line. Prescott police officers engaged in trying to evacuate roughly thirty residents, some of which have physical limitations. When firefighters made entry into the apartment they found that the building’s sprinkler system had already extinguished the fire and they immediately shut down the sprinkler system so as to limit water damage to the building

Investigation determined that a portable oscillating fan’s motor had caused the fire while the tenant was out of his apartment. The City’s Building Department deemed six rooms uninhabitable, two on each floor, due to the movement of water through the building. An outside contractor was contacted to start the process of mitigating the water damage. The remaining residents were allowed to return to their apartments roughly an hour later. Arrangements were being made to house the six displaced residents.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Fayetteville, NC – Overnight apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Occupants of six units in the Carlson Bay Apartments off Cliffdale Road were displaced this morning after a small fire in one of the residences. The fire at 975 Bassman Lane was reported at 12:33 a.m., a Fayetteville Fire Department release said.

Heavy smoke was coming from one unit in the three-story building when firefighters arrived. An automatic sprinkler head in the apartment had extinguished the fire, the release said.  Heat and smoke damage were confined to the one apartment, but six were affected by water damage.

No injuries were reported.

Residents of the building were evacuated as a precaution but were allowed to return once firefighters had left. The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents. The fire started in the living room of the apartment, the release said, but the cause has not been determined.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Plymouth, MN – Garage fire is kept from spreading into townhome thanks to sprinkler system

At 11:23 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, the Plymouth Fire Department responded to 16787 39th Avenue North for a house fire. The first units arrived and found a tuck-under attached garage fully engulfed with fire spreading to the house. All occupants were evacuated with no injuries. One firefighter sustained a foot laceration and was treated and released.

There was significant damage to the garage, but thanks to a sprinkler system that activated, minor damage was caused to the living space. The adjoining townhouse units were cleared of smoke and those residents were allowed back inside their homes.

Plymouth Police, Wayzata Fire, Golden Valley Fire, Loretto Fire, Maple Plain Fire, Minnetonka Fire and North Ambulance assisted. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and is under investigation.

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