Tag Archives: Afternoon (12pm-6pm)

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Denver, CO – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Denver Broncos stadium; No injuries reported

A fire that broke out in the home stadium of the NFL’s Denver Broncos destroyed rows of seats and damaged a suite area on Thursday, authorities said.

The Denver Fire Department responded to Empower Field at Mile High at about 2:15 p.m. MDT, Capt. Greg Pixley told The Denver Post. The fire was extinguished approximately 30 minutes later as firefighters and the stadium’s sprinkler system brought the blaze under control.

“This fire burned very hot. We’re lucky the sprinkler system started to hold the fire in check,” Pixley told the newspaper. “This was a significant fire.”

Stadium officials said in a statement on Twitter that the fire occurred in a construction zone near the East Club Lounge. Pixley said the fire ignited on the fourth level of the stadium and spread to the third-level seats, KDVR-TV reported. Smoke interrupted an event on the second floor that had about 100 people in attendance, but there are no reports of injuries, the television station reported.

Pixley said the sprinkler system was activated in the indoor seating area, but there was no sprinkler system over the exposed stadium seats, according to the Post.

That exposed the stadium’s plastic seats to the blaze.

“This type of plastic that the seats are composed of burns with not only significant ferocity, very large flames, but also produces a tremendous amount of black smoke,” Pixley told reporters.

Six rows of seats in two sections near the suites were destroyed, KCNC-TV reported.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Perry, IA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at manufacturing plant; No injuries reported

A fire in a back room at Percival Scientific Inc. in Perry Saturday afternoon brought a response from the Perry Volunteer Fire Department.

No injuries were reported in the blaze, which was quickly extinguished at 505 Research Dr. after it activated the plant’s sprinkler system, according to public safety radio traffic.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire at this hour.

Officers of the Perry Police Department also responded.

Apartment Building, Residential

Utica, NY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment complex

A family of three was displaced following a fire at the West Street Apartments in Utica Sunday.

Utica Fire Chief Scott Ingersoll says his crews arrived at the complex around 1 p.m. to find a small fire in a third-floor apartment.

The sprinkler system in the building was triggered and kept the flames under control until firefighters could extinguish them completely. The sprinklers did cause some water damage to the second and third floors.

Ingersoll says the cause is still under investigation.

The one adult and two children who lived in the apartment are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Groton, CT – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at hotel

A fire broke out at the Super 8 Hotel in Groton on Monday afternoon, according to The New London Day. The fire led to evacuation of the hotel and water damage to some of its units.

The fire appears to have started shortly after 3 p.m. in an unoccupied third-floor unit that was used for storage. The sprinkler system extinguished the fire and led to water streaming in to the floors below, according to The New London Day.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Manhattan, KS – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at retirement home; No injuries reported

Fire sprinklers extinguished a fire at a Manhattan retirement home Saturday afternoon.

The Manhattan Fire Department says crews were dispatched at 1:03 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, to Meadowlark Retirement Community at 2221 Meadowlark Road for a report of a fire alarm with a smell of smoke.

Upon arrival, crews found a two-story residential building that had a dryer fire in the basement.

Manhattan Fire says the fire was controlled by the fire sprinkler system and crews finished the blaze off.

The fire cause has been noted as accidental due to overheating of material in the dryer.

No injuries were reported and all residents are able to remain in the building.

MFD says a total of 16 firefighters responded on 4 fire apparatuses with the last units clearing at around 3:00 p.m.

The loss is estimated at $8,000 to contents and $4,000 to the structure.

Manhattan Fire says the owner is listed as Manhattan Retirement Foundation Inc. of the same address.

Please contact Deputy Chief Ryan Almes, Manhattan Fire Department, at 785-587-4508 with any questions.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Provo, UT – Sprinkler system activated for fire at dormitory; No injuries reported

A BYU student making rocket fuel inside the kitchen of a campus dormitory started a fire Sunday that caused damage to the building, displacing residents.

University police said they were alerted to the fire at Heritage Halls – Building Four at 4:30 p.m and found the fire sprinklers had been activated and were flooding the floor.

Flames from the fire “had engulfed the walls and ceiling around the stove and the intense heat tripped the fire sprinkler system,” the department wrote.

After the fire was put out, an investigation found that the student was making homemade rocket fuel on the kitchen stove when it exploded into a fireball.

No one was injured, but the department said “some dorm residents will be displaced due to the flooding.”

“Please keep your experiments in the lab and supervised by trained professionals,” warned the police.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Hyannis, MA – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at resort and conference center; No injuries reported

A heater reportedly sparked a small fire at the Resort and Conference Center on Scudder Avenue in Hyannis about 4 PM Tuesday. The fire was doused by the building’s sprinkler system. No injuries were reported. Hyannis firefighters ventilated smoke from the facility. Further details were not immediately available.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Petoskey, MI – Sprinkler system activated for lithium-ion battery fire at resort

What could’ve potentially been a large structure fire Tuesday afternoon at a Petoskey motorcoach resort was averted because of a building’s sprinkler system.

Al Welsheimer, Resort/Bear Creek Fire Department’s fire chief, said a sprinkler system and two heads which were activated saved the clubhouse building at Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort, located north of Petoskey off U.S. 31 at 2075 Cidarpress Dr.

“They have a clubhouse there that’s owned by the members of the membership of the club,” Welsheimer said. “The call came in as a fire in the office and we also received a call from the commercial fire alarm company as their smoke sensors were activated and Kirk Rose (Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort developer) called and said there was a fire in the office with batteries on fire.

“There was a small explosion.”

Welsheimer said Resort/Bear Creek Fire Department received the call at 4:33 p.m. and firefighters were on scene at 4:40 p.m.

“We had the fire out at 5 p.m. and cleared at 5:28 p.m.,” Welsheimer said. “What it was is they had two Segways in an office, which was more like a break room, and the battery packs were on a charger charging and one of the battery packs basically caught on fire. They are a rechargeable lithium ion battery that can be recharged and it basically caught on fire.”

Welsheimer said the important part of the fire was the heat and smoke activated the building’s sprinkler system, and the “sprinkler system basically put the fire out.”

“As far as damage goes, besides obviously water damage, there was very little damage and no damage to the structure of the building,” Welsheimer said. “There was very little damage to the room where the origin of the fire was, just a little bit of charring on the wall and we had to rip some of the wall apart just to make sure there was not extension and some of the ceiling tiles, but the sprinkler system is what activated and saved this building from basically being an hour fire from an all-night fire for us.”

The Ciderpress Club located within Hearthside Grove is an 18,000 square foot Craftsman-style clubhouse which sits on 9.5 acres in the center of the motorcoach’s resort. The building includes a café, outdoor pavilion, game room and movie theater, according to the resort’s website.

“That’s huge,” Welsheimer said of the sprinkler system’s activation in saving the building. “Sprinkler systems take such a bad rap, I think because everybody thinks of the ‘I Love Lucy’ scene where all the sprinkler heads go off and everybody gets wet.”

Welsheimer said the sprinkler system saved tens of thousands of dollars of potential damage had they not been installed and properly working.

“You think of that sprinkler head, it’s sitting there 24/7, 365,” Welsheimer said. “It’s like a little fire guy sitting there with a hose waiting for a fire to go off so he can spray his water. As long as they’re maintained on an annual basis, that’s what they’re supposed to do and this was a textbook example of what the system is supposed to do.”

Welsheimer noted manufacturers of sprinkler systems don’t necessarily sell them as a way to put out a fire as much as they help contain the fire.

“But in certain situations, obviously, it will depending on the size of the fire and what’s burning,” Welsheimer said. “The main goal is to get it to contain the fire to a smaller location and get people out of the building safely if there’s people in the building.”

EMS personnel also responded to the fire, Welsheimer said, to check on Rose and another man who was in the building at the time for smoke ventilation. No serious injuries occurred.

“They were cold because they got wet,” Welsheimer said. “All-in-all it was a very good outcome.

“I think it’s really important to emphasize how important sprinkler systems are,” Welsheimer added. “I know some people have residential sprinkler systems and the install of those have come down a long ways. In this case, they (Hearthside Grove) might have some water damage and have to replace some drywall and the perimeter, but the building is still standing.”

Welsheimer said this is also the time of year where fire departments also begin to respond to more chimney fires.

“We’ve had one so far this year and I know Melrose (Township) had one last Saturday which ended up being a structure fire,” Welsheimer said. “We’re at that time of season where people should be cleaning their chimneys and making sure they’re being inspected and cleaning them on a monthly basis if they’re regularly using them.”

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Hardeeville, SC – Sprinkler system activated for commercial dryer fire at middle school

A fire that began inside a commercial dryer Nov. 29 led to the evacuation of Hardeeville Ridgeland-Middle School and Hardeeville Elementary School as firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, according to officials.

“A dryer in the athletic room at Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School caught fire,” the Jasper County School District said in a statement. “Our sprinkler system successfully extinguished the fire. Our teachers and staff followed our fire evacuation protocols and evacuated all students from Hardeeville Elementary School and Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School, safely and orderly, and all parents were informed immediately.”

The Hardeeville Fire Department responded around 12:52 p.m., Assistant Fire Chief Joey Rowell said. Rowell said the school had been evacuated quickly and everyone was outside and accounted for when firefighters arrived. 

“The fire was in the rear of the school in the laundry area near the gymnasium,” Rowell said. “The dryer, which is a commercial dryer, had gotten too hot with some uniform equipment on the inside of it. The sprinklers in the school held the fire in check until firefighters could arrive and put out remaining hot spots. Without sprinklers, it could have gotten a lot worse with smoke.”

Rowell said the school had drainage systems in the floor of the laundry room area, which also helped. He said most of the damage was to the dryer and no damage estimate was immediately available. 

“The fire department remained on scene until all systems could be returned to normal around 5 p.m.,” Rowell said. “This was good work by all, including the school district and the fire department.”

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Bend, OR – Sprinkler system extinguishes laundry room fire at rehabilitation center, No injuries reported

A laundry room fire Sunday afternoon at Pilot Butte Rehabilitation in northeast Bend was stopped by the facility’s fire sprinkler system, an official said.

A fire alarm report was received by Bend Fire & Rescue just after 3:30 p.m. It soon was upgraded to a structure fire response after staff found smoking coming from the laundry room of the facility, in the 1800 block of Northeast Highway 20, Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Bond said.

Crews arrived to find that the sprinkler system had activated and completed putting it out, Bond said. There were no injuries and minimal heat and water damage. No smoke entered the patient area of the building, the official added.

The exact cause of the fire was under investigation, Bond said. The fire sprinkler and alarm systems were back in operation in about two hours.