Tag Archives: Afternoon (12pm-6pm)

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Bridgeport, CT – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in operating room at medical center; No injuries reported

A fire erupted in an empty operating room at St. Vincent’s Medical Center on Saturday afternoon before being quickly extinguished by automatic sprinklers, officials said. 

Firefighters were dispatched around 2 p.m. to the hospital at 2800 Main St. in response to a fire alarm, according to Tiadora Josef, Bridgeport’s director of public information.

Josef said the responding crews arrived to find the aftermath of a small fire in an operating room that has been extinguished by an automatic sprinkler. She said the crews confirmed the fire was out and has not spread.

Building officials then shut the sprinkler head off and maintenance crews began cleaning up the residual water, Josef said.

Josef said no injuries were reported and the building was not evacuated. She said the operating room was not in use at the time of the fire and the fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the blaze.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Frisco, CO – Sprinkler system activated for fire at condominium; No injuries reported

Fire crews responded to a fire at a condominium off Frisco Main Street around 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, according to Summit Fire & EMS.

The fire protection district responded after it received an alert of sprinkler water flow at the Bear’s Den Condos Building B on Granite Street in Frisco, Summit Fire & EMS spokesperson Steve Lipsher said. A battalion chief arrived on scene moments later to find that all of the occupants had evacuated the building and one unit on the upper floor was filled with smoke, Lipsher said.

The fire had triggered a single sprinkler head, which “did its job perfectly” and kept the fire from spreading, Lipsher said. No one was in the unit at the time, so “if it weren’t for that sprinkler, the fire certainly could have become a more significant problem,” he said.

Three engines, a fire truck and two medic units responded to the scene and checked for any extension of the fire but found none, Lipsher said. Power, gas and waterflow to the buildling were turned off. It was determined that the fire had been limited to the one condominium unit but that two units below it had been damaged by water, he said.

No one was injured. Fire crews could not provide an immediate estimate on the extent of property damage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation but it is not believed to be suspicious, Lipsher said.

“All things considered, these sprinkler systems when they do work as they’re designed, they really do make a big difference,” Lipsher said. “We’re really thankful there was no injuries.”

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Salmon Arm, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for arson fire at Walmart

Police are investigating after a fire ignited Sunday afternoon inside the Salmon Arm Walmart.

The fire prompted the store’s evacuation around 4 p.m. on Aug. 4. Two employees outside the store said the blaze had allegedly been started by individuals who’d been using the changing rooms in the clothing area.

“The flames were shooting to the roof,” said one of the employees.

The Salmon Arm Fire Department and RCMP responded.

Salmon Arm RCMP spokesperson Const. Andrew Hodges confirmed police are investigating the suspected arson.

Salmon Arm Fire Chief Brad Shirley said the fire department received a report of a commercial structure fire just after 4 p.m. Firefighters from three fire halls were dispatched to the scene.

“Upon arrival, the fire involving hanging cloths had been mostly extinguished by staff and the sprinkler system,” said Shirley via email.

Shirley said damage from the fire was somewhat minor, though there was also smoke and water damage.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Madison, WI – Sprinkler system activated for fire at senior housing facility; No injuries reported

A sprinkler system helped save lives and limit property damage after a fire broke out in a senior housing facility on Tuesday, according to the Madison Fire Department.

Firefighters were called around 3 p.m. to the 900 block of North High Point Road for a smoke detector going off and smoke in an apartment.

Spokesperson Cynthia Schuster said the 3-story 170-unit apartment building has a fire sprinkler system, which activated in a second floor apartment.

As firefighters arrived, residents were evacuating, Schuster reported. A sprinkler was activated in the kitchen area, which controlled the fire. Moderate smoke conditions were present.

Firefighters used their water can extinguisher to complete extinguishment and ventilated the apartment.

Schuster said fire sprinkler systems save lives, and reduce injuries and property loss.

No one was hurt as a result of the fire.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Lynchburg, VA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at nursing facility

Lynchburg crews responded Saturday to a fire at a nursing facility, Lynchburg Health & Rehab, located on Seminole Avenue.

According to Battalion Chief Mike Reeves, boxes located in a shower room in the facility caught fire just after noon.

Residents used an extinguisher on the fire, and the sprinkler system kicked in and helped finish the job by the time firefighters arrived.

Reeves said since the fire originated in a shower room, it’s unlikely it would have spread, although there was some lingering smoke in the area.

The initial call indicated there may have been oxygen present in the room, but Reeves said they only observed two small bottles that may have been empty.

The Fire Marshal will investigate to determine a cause.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Bridgewater, VT – Sprinkler system activated for fire at furniture making facility; No injuries reported

Furniture maker Charles Shackleton is crediting a fast response from Bridgewater and Woodstock firefighters along with a recently updated sprinkler system with dousing an “electrical fire” that broke out at the ShackletonThomas furniture and pottery headquarters in the Bridgewater Mill last Friday afternoon.

“We are now cleaning up water and smoke damage but nothing critical was damaged and, more importantly, no person was injured,” Shackleton posted on social media on Saturday.

The fire happened a little more than a year after Shackleton had to shut down in July 2023 after torrential rains caused the Ottauquechee River to overflow and flood the basement level of the Bridgewater Mill building, damaging sawing and milling equipment used to cut and shape wood into furniture parts.

Bridgewater and Woodstock firefighters were dispatched at 5:40 p.m. on Friday after callers reported “an explosion and visible smoke” coming from the third floor of the mill building, according to a news release from Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department.

Upon entering the third floor firefighters, “encountered heavy black smoke with zero visibility” and “found a small fire” on the third floor but “fortunately … the sprinklers did their job in keeping the fire contained,” the fire department said in the statement.

Once the fire was tamped down and the third floor ventilated, mutual aid crews from area fire departments placed tarps over the furniture on the floors below to mitigate the loss of furniture and wood caused by water dripping down from the activated sprinklers on the floor above.

“It was mostly water and smoke damage, no major structural damage at all,” Jeff Shepard, shop manager at Shackleton, said on Monday afternoon.

The damage was largely limited to “tools and machinery” and a power control box which “shorted out” on the second floor, caused by water, Shepard said.

The only piece of furniture that was damaged was a bunk bed on the third floor that Shephard said he was finishing. “It was right next to the fire and the firemen soaked it so the drawers underneath it got soaked. So I’ll have to remake those,” he said.

The fire broke out after employees had left for the day and no one was inside the ShackletonThomas portion of the building, according to Shepard.

“Reports from bystanders that the smoke was heaviest on the Route 4 side” of the building led Bridgewater firefighters to request a second alarm “to bring in additional mutual aid for a working fire,” the Bridgewater Fire Department said.

State fire investigators at the scene on Monday were still investigating the cause of the fire, but Shackleton said in a social media post that they are looking into the possibility it was caused by “maybe lithium batteries. We don’t know.”

Showroom floor items “were not damaged” and “we plan to have furniture production back up and running in two weeks” while an end-of-month sale remains scheduled as planned, Shackleton said.

“It was a year ago in July that I was down in the basement fixing all the machinery,” Shepard reflected on Monday. “It’s ‘Groundhog Day,’ ” he said good-humoredly, referring to the 1993 Bill Murray movie about a man trapped in a repeating cycle of a day’s events.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Helena, AL – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Publix grocery store; No injuries reported

A grocery store has some minor damage after a fire Monday afternoon.

According to the Helena Fire Department, crews were dispatched to the Publix on Highway 17 just after 12:45 p.m. Monday.

Fire officials confirmed smoke was coming from the restroom area of the store. They say the building’s fire sprinkler system helped put out the fire quickly. Damage was limited to the restroom area.

Store employees quickly evacuated the store, even before firefighters arrived. No one was hurt.

The cause of the fire has not been released.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Newark, DE – Two separate commercial building fires contained by sprinkler systems; No injuries reported

The Delaware State Fire Marshal’s Office determined that  two commercial building fires over the weekend were accidental.

The first fire  occurred on Friday at about 7:15 p.m. at the Tri State Battery building on 107 Albe Drive off Old Baltimore Pike, south of Newark.

Deputy firemarshal’s  went  to the scene and determined that an electrical malfunction with a lithium-ion battery ignited combustibles.

The fire was contained by the sprinkler system until the Fire Department arrived. Damage to the building is estimated at $75,000 and no injuries were reported.

The second fire was reported on  Saturday at around 12:30 p.m.  at the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, 1101 Lambsons Lane in New Castle.

Deputy fire marshals  determined the fire was caused by an undetermined heat source igniting combustibles inside of the building.

The fire was contained by the sprinkler system until firefighters   arrived. Damage to the building is estimated at $100,000 and no injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Roanoke, VA – Sprinkler system extinguished fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

An unattended fire in Roanoke County on Thursday has forced several apartments to be vacated.

At 1:54 p.m. Roanoke County Fire and Rescue responded to the Ridgeview Apartments on Hawthorne Road in the North County area of Roanoke County, for a reported commercial structure fire.

Responding units arrived to find nothing showing from the outside of the multi-story apartment building. Once inside, crews found evidence of a fire on the fifth floor that had been extinguished by the sprinkler system.

Crews said fire damage was minimal but water from the sprinkler head did cause about $20,000 in damage and displaced four units.

Those displaced are either staying with family and friends, are being helped by the management at Ridgeview Apartments, or are being assisted by their renter’s insurance, according to Roanoke County Fire and Rescue.

There were no injuries and working smoke alarms and sprinkler systems both played a role in keeping residents safe.

The Roanoke County Fire Marshal’s Office reports that the cause of the fire was unattended melting wax on a stovetop.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lexington, KY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

Residents in an apartment have been displaced after a fire Sunday afternoon.

The Lexington Fire Dept. was called out to the 500 block of Angliana Ave. for a fire just after 6 p.m.

Officials say they found the fire in a dryer in a first-floor apartment.

It was contained to the laundry room and put out with a watering can and apartment sprinkler system.

No one was injured, but officials say the apartment occupants will be displaced.

Fire investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.

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