Tag Archives: Afternoon (12pm-6pm)

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Peoria, IL – Oven fire at Sam’s Club prompts sprinkler system to activate; No injuries reported

A kitchen fire temporarily closed Sam’s Club on Monday afternoon and caused a damage estimate of $1 million in products on the store’s shelves.

At about 3:30 p.m., Peoria firefighters responded to a fire in the deli area at 4100 W. Willow Knolls Road.

Once inside, they found a small fire in a rotisserie oven, which was put out with a water extinguisher, Acting Battalion Chief Robert Lundholm said in a news release.

One sprinkler head was activated and kept the fire in check before they arrived, he said.

Firefighters remained on scene after the fire was out to shut down the sprinklers and ventilate the building.

No injuries were reported. All employees and customers were evacuated and accounted for, and the store was closed.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Niagara Falls, ON, Canada – Fire in high rise hotel quickly extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Multiple crews from Niagara Falls Fire Department were called to the Fallsview Boulevard highrise hotel about 3 p.m. Officials say the fire was quickly extinguished by the hotel’s sprinkler system. When police arrived, employees and guests had already evacuated the building. “If you are a guest in a hotel and hear the alarm system going, it’s safer to stay in your room and wait until you get instructions from the fire department on whether to leave or stay,” Boutilier advised. Just less than 30 firefighters were called to the scene, including volunteers from Station 4 in Chippawa. “We had Station 6, Crowland, to come in to cover the rest of the city while firefighters were at the hotel,” Boutilier added. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. No damage estimate was available but the Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating the incident.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Ashland, MS – Electrical fire at factory extinguished with help from sprinkler system

An electrical fire that started at a factory in Ashland Tuesday afternoon is still under investigation.

According to Benton County Fire Investigator Randy Hobson, some electrical wiring on the outside of Abby Manufacturing in Ashland apparently caught fire around 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 4. The fire spread to a nearby pile of tires causing thick, black smoke to fill the air around the factory. The cause of the electrical fire is unknown at this time.

Ashland Fire Chief Chris Shoup used a backhoe to move the smoldering tires away from the building to avoid further damage to the building if the fire was to reignite Tuesday night. 

The outside of the Abby Manufacturing plant received some fire damage. However, there was also a lot of water damage from the sprinkler system on the interior of the plant.

Ashland Fire Department, Snow Lake Fire Department and Able’s Store Fire Department all responded to the fire.

“I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all the fire departments that responded,” said Hobson. “Everybody pitched in. The police department and sheriff’s department helped and the highway patrol blocked off the road for us. If it hadn’t been for them the whole building would have caught on fire.”

Firefighters had the fire contained around 6 p.m.

Abby Manufacturing is a fabricated steel and aluminum products manufacturer. The company was founded in 1994 in Walnut.

Apartment Building, Residential

Chesapeake, VA – Three-story apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

An apartment fire displaced seven residents Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Firefighters were called to Adalay Bay apartments at 100 Sabal Palm Lane at 4:19 p.m., Lt. Anthony Barakat, assistant fire marshal, wrote in a news release.

Firefighters arrived at 4:24 p.m. and found a three-story apartment building with smoke coming from the back, Barakat said. They made sure the building was evacuated and quickly accessed the third-floor apartment where the fire started, he said.

The sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire. Firefighters shut down the sprinkler system so no other units would be damaged, Barakat said.

He said the fire was cooking-related and no one was hurt.

According to Barakat, the third-floor unit suffered fire and water damage. The two units below also had water damage. Residents can’t stay in the units because water got into the electrical system and the electricity was turned off.

“Once there’s no power, we can’t allow anyone to stay there,” he said.

Adalay Bay management is helping those displaced by the fire, Barakat said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Las Vegas, NV – Single sprinkler extinguishes apartment fire

The Clark County Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire at the Hamptons Apartments, 3070 S. Nellis Blvd., near Vegas Valley Drive. Upon arrival crews reported light smoke in an apartment and evidence of a fire that had been extinguished by a single sprinkler head. The fire was confined to the room contents and did not extend into the structure itself. One person was reported to have suffered minor burns, and did not require transport.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Newport, RI – Kitchen fire at historic senior apartment building controlled by sprinkler system

Two apartments at Clarke School Apartments, 24 Mary St., remained uninhabitable as of Friday afternoon due to fire, smoke and water damage in one apartment and water damage in a second apartment below it, according to Fire Chief Brian Dugan.  The report of a fire in a third-floor apartment came in on Wednesday at about 2:10 p.m. and people were evacuating the building when firefighters arrived, Dugan said.

There was a stovetop fire in the kitchen that had activated the sprinkler system, which did a good job of controlling the damage, Dugan said. The fire was doused within 10 minutes after firefighters arrived, and most of that time was spent getting hoses and equipment up to the apartment, he said.  No cause of the fire had been established as of Friday and it remains under investigation, Dugan said.

One of the tenants has received living accommodations through the Red Cross, according to the fire chief. Reports from tenants said three elderly residents in all have not been able to return to their apartments.  Residents said there is some water and smoke damage in other apartments that remain occupied.

The Clarke School was built in 1915 and underwent a historic renovation in 1994 when it was developed into more than 50 privately operated affordable apartments. The apartments are reserved for people 55 or older, as well as disabled individuals, and some income restrictions apply.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Honolulu, HI – Fire on 28th floor lanai at residential high-rise extinguished by sprinkler system

A sprinkler on a lanai extinguished a small fire at a Kakaako high-rise today, Honolulu firefighters said.  Forty-seven firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire at 5:07 p.m. in building B of 801 South St. near the intersection of Kapiolani Boulevard and Alapai Street, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Scot Seguirant.  By the time firefighters got to the 28th floor unit about 10 minutes later, the fire already had been extinguished by the sprinkler system, Seguirant said.

“Bar none, sprinklers are the safest way to manage a fire,” he said. “It was there before firefighters were even able to get there.”  He said a properly designed building can minimize property loss.  The cause of the fire was undetermined, but damage was estimated at $2,500 for the structure and its contents.  A large group of firefighters responded to the alarm because a second-alarm was called when smoke was seen coming from the building. The second wave of firefighters were returned after they arrived at the building.  Authorities closed Kapiolani Boulevard between South and Cooke streets during the incident.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Suffolk, VA – Sprinkler system helps contain warehouse fire; No injuries reported

Crews with Suffolk Fire & Rescue responded to a commercial fire at the Pacorini Global Warehouse in the 100 block of Industrial Drive Wednesday afternoon.  The call originated as a fire alarm with water flow from a sprinkler at 2:13 p.m.  Firefighters arrived at the warehouse to find moderate smoke coming from one of the facility’s back doors and immediately began an interior search.  The fire was contained to two large lumber packing crates with the sprinkler system active in the immediate area. Firefighters conducted a secondary search of the building after extinguishing the fire. The affected crates were removed from the warehouse.  The fire was called under control at 2:34 p.m. No evacuations were required, and no one was injured.  Crews remained at the scene to ventilate the building. The Norfolk Fire Department provided mutual aid with a fan truck.  The Fire Marshal’s Office is handling the investigation.

Public Library

Hopkinton, NH – Sprinkler system assists fire crews in extinguishing fire at town library

Karen Dixon was sitting at the front desk of the Hopkinton Town Library about 4:30 p.m. when a lightning strike shook the building. A few uneventful minutes went by before Dixon heard something in the cupola above.

“I looked up and there was fire in the acoustical tile ceiling,” she said.  Dixon, two other employees and a volunteer pulled the fire alarm, called 911 and got out of the building as the flames spread. Firefighters arrived to find the cupola ablaze and the building filling with smoke, Hopkinton fire Chief Jeff Yale said.  Once the flames were doused, an inch and a half of water puddled on the floor, and the ceiling of the cupola had collapsed onto the desk where Dixon had been sitting.

“I am shocked. That’s my desk,” Dixon said. “That’s where I greet people every day. That’s my life.”  Yale said fire crews were trying to preserve as many books and possessions inside the library as possible and close up the holes in the roof.  “As we clean up the mess inside, we want to make sure with the storms coming through tonight, we don’t want to continue to add to that,” Yale said.

The library will be closed through the weekend as the extent of fire, water and smoke damage to the building and its contents are evaluated.  Townspeople quickly rallied around the library; select board members, friends of the library and library trustees were all at the scene Friday evening, surveying the damage and, later, calling in pizzas from Dimitri’s Pizza while first responders and a clean-up crew sucked water from the building.

“The library is definitely the center of the community,” said Hopkinton select board chairman Jim O’Brien by phone. “We’re already hearing from people asking how they can help.”

“We’re just sort of in shock,” said Amy O’Brien, Friends of the Hopkinton Town Library president.

The damage was pervasive, Jim O’Brien said – many of the library’s collections were damaged by smoke and water as crews put the blaze out.  Yale said the sprinkler system did its job, but it flowed water until the fire department shut it down after the fire was fully extinguished.

O’Brien said an assessment of the building and its contents, as well as whether any programming could continue at the library, would be done over the next few days, and that a solution would be discussed at the select board meeting on Monday.

Though the damage was bad, O’Brien said he was sure the town would continue to support its library.  “Knowing the people of Hopkinton, I’m sure they’ll try to get it back on their feet,” he said.

O’Brien said he was grateful to mutual aid responders for responding quickly to the fire. Emergency personnel from Boscawen, Concord, Hillsborough, Henniker, Warner, Bow and the Capital Area Compact Chief responded to the scene, according to the Hopkinton fire Facebook page.

Last month, a similar storm caused a trio of fires from lightning strikes in Concord, Bow and Hooksett. Fire destroyed the steeple of the Crossroads Community Church in Bow on July 17.

Government/Military, Prison / Jail

Concord, NH – Sprinkler system activated in wood shop at state prison

A small fire broke out in a wood shop hopper at the New Hampshire State Prison Thursday evening, a city fire official said.

Nobody was hurt and the fire caused minimal damage, Fire Chief Dan Andrus said.

The wood shop is in the northern end of the prison complex and firefighters responded to a 5:57 p.m. sprinkler-activation call.

The chief said the fire was contained to a hopper where wood waste such as chips and sawdust are deposited.

Firefighters cleared the scene within an hour and the city fire marshal is following up.

“Nothing suggests anything other than an accidental fire,” Andrus said.