Tag Archives: Afternoon (12pm-6pm)

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Melbourne, FL – Kitchen fire at retirement home put out by sprinkler system

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Mason, OH – Daytime fire at high school that started in classroom dust collector is extinguished by sprinkler system

A small fire at Mason High School caused students and the attached community center to evacuate around noon on Tuesday. Classes and all after-school activities were canceled for the rest of the day, and 3600 students were sent home. “The dust collector in our computer aided design, or CAD classes, is where the fire started. Thankfully no injuries, no one was hurt, but it did create quite a bit of smoke,” Mason Schools spokeswoman Tracey Carson said.

The fire activated the school’s sprinkler system and was extinguished quickly, Carson said, but afterward there were elevated levels of carbon monoxide. Students said smoke filled the hallways quickly. “I was walking back from lunch, and I was going to my next bell’s class, and all the doors shut, so I was like, ‘Why are they shutting, maybe we’re just having a fire drill,’ and then it smelled really bad, and I saw a ton of fog, and I ran outside,” student Natalie Mishu said. “I was at the top level, and I was walking down the stairs, and I started to smell it more, and it was just full of smoke down there,” student Jacob Nusser said.

Students who were in the CAD classroom said classmates and their teacher acted immediately. They said someone pulled the fire alarm while others grabbed fire extinguishers. “Our teacher was very good at handling the situation,” student Elric Nijakowski said. “Yes, he was very prepared,” student Eric Vermillion said. No injuries were reported. By 4 p.m. the district was given the all clear.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Saskatoon, SK, Canada – Sprinkler system confines fire at recycling center; Assists firefighters in extinguishing difficult blaze

No one was injured after a fire broke out at the Loraas Recycling facility on First Avenue North in Saskatoon on Monday afternoon. The Saskatoon Fire Department said it received the initial call reporting the fire just after 1 p.m. When crews arrived, they encountered heavy smoke coming from an overhead door of a building. They determined the location of the fire and started an offensive interior attack, the fire department said in a media release. The fire briefly intensified as firefighters tried to put out the seat, or main body, of the fire. Another engine was called out to assist crews at the scene, the fire department said in the release.

The fire involved cardboard and machinery. The fire, “very difficult to extinguish,” was brought under control in just over two hours, the fire department said. Employees left the building before the fire crew arrived and a sprinkler system had activated, confining the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation. No damage estimate is available.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rockford, IL – Sprinkler system activates to help control apartment fire; No injuries

Rockford fire crews rushed to an apartment Sunday afternoon and rescued a man who was forced out onto his balcony by the smoke.  The Rockford Fire Department responded at approximately 2 p.m. to an apartment complex on Trilling Avenue, near N. Main Street and Riverside Boulevard.  The second floor sprinkler system activated in response to a fire. The resident ran out to the balcony where firemen helped him to safety. There were no injuries. The damage is estimated at $10,000.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Vancouver, WA – Activated sprinkler assists firefighters in extinguishing fire at La Quinta Inn

Firefighters responded to a call Saturday afternoon at a hotel, where they found a fire in an empty room. Clark County Fire District 6 responded to the call at 4:11 p.m. at the La Quinta Inn & Suites, 1500 N.E. 134th St., Vancouver. Battalion Chief Bryan Baum said the first responders forced entry into the ground room floor after a hotel employee said there might be guests in that room.

When the firefighters entered, there were no guests, but there was a fire, which heated up and set off the sprinkler system. The firefighters put out the fire in less than 10 minutes, Baum said, adding there was some water damage and smoke damage in the room. Vancouver Fire Department assisted on the call.

He added that while the fire is currently under investigation, it could’ve been the air conditioning unit that started it. The curtains near the air conditioner were burned, as was the unit itself. There were no injuries from the fire, and the damage was primarily contained to the room with the fire, although Baum said there might’ve been some water damage in the hallway near the room.

The hotel was evacuated during the fire. Baum said that as of an hour after the fire, the guests from that room still hadn’t returned to the hotel, and the firefighters gave their personal belongings to the hotel staff at the front desk.

Residential, Single Family Home

Apple Valley, CA – House fire caused by BBQ grill is contained by sprinkler system

Firefighters quickly doused a blaze at a home here Tuesday evening, officials said. Reported at 5:46 p.m., Apple Valley Fire Protection District personnel made quick work of the fire, which occurred at a home in the 19300 block of Glaslyn Court, in the Jess Ranch area. AVFPD Fire Marshal Brian Pachman said the district responded with a “full first alarm” response. Firefighters arrived on scene to find heavy smoke coming from the back of the home “with danger of spreading through the entire structure.”

“Fire crews entered the [home] and took to the roof with swift and aggressive ventilation and contained the fire to the rear living room area,” Pachman said. “One residential sprinkler head was activated and kept the fire in check until units quickly arrived.”

The fire is believed to have originated from a barbecue grill at the home, with one resident reporting that “smoke and fire” were coming from the grill right before they called 911. One occupant was transported to a local hospital with “cuts to his body from breaking glass,” Pachman said. No other injuries were reported. Pachman credited the quick response to nearby Fire Station 337, which was reopened a year ago after voters approved Measure A, a special tax intended to boost fire services.

“This would have been a different outcome without the successful passing of Measure A,” Pachman said. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but Pachman said fire investigators are looking closely at the grill “being a contributing factor.”

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Phoenix, AZ – Sprinkler system helps extinguish warehouse fire before crews arrive

Crews that work with hazardous materials were called out to a warehouse when a fire broke out on Sunday afternoon.

It happened near 36th Street and Broadway Road.

Firefighters said most of the fire was out by the time they got there thanks to the sprinkler system.

There was a 55-gallon chemical container that contained an unknown substance may have started the fire, the fire department said.

Hazardous materials teams are trying to figure out if the substance is flammable and would start another fire.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Urbana, IL – Sprinkler system extinguishes residence hall fire; No injuries reported

A small fire caused sprinklers to go off at Oglesby Hall, 1005 W. College Court, around 1 p.m. Monday.

The fire was extinguished and no injury was reported. The sprinkler caused an electric hazard, and residents were told to evacuate the building and avoid the area.

Pat Wade, communications officer for the University Police Department, said the department doesn’t know why the fire started at this time; all it knows is a computer overheated.

“The water from the fire sprinklers were running on to a power source, so that caused a worry about the electric situation in the building,” Wade said.

Ruthvik Reddy, freshman in Engineering, said he was in a deep sleep and was woken up by the fire alarms. Reddy said the sprinklers only went off in the room the fire started in, which was on the first floor.

Dontrell Collier, freshman in LAS, said he was in his room when the alarm went off and thought it was a regular drill. When he opened his door, he saw a lot of smoke and water coming from a room on his floor.

“I didn’t know the extent of what happened in his room at that point,” Collier said. “I just saw smoke and was like, ‘I need to get up out of here.’ … It took them a minute to let us all back in, but now we are all fine.”

The electrical hazard was resolved as of 1:20 p.m., and residents were allowed back into the building.

Department Store, Retail

Orland Park, IL – Fire at Old Navy store contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Fire crews fought back a blaze at the Old Navy store inside the Orland Park Place shopping center late Sunday afternoon. The fire caused significant fire and smoke damage to the store. There were no injuries reported.

The Orland Fire Protection District answered a call around 5:30 p.m. reporting a store on fire at 105 Orland Park Place Drive, south of the Orland Park Mall, between 151st Street and 153rd Street, officials said. More than 30 people, including employees and customers, were inside the Old Navy store when the blaze broke out.

Given the building’s size and the extensive threat posed by the fire, several neighboring fire departments from Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Mokena, Crestwood and Palos Heights. OFPD dispatched all of its fire equipment, including two fire trucks, four fire engines and four ambulances.

Chief Michael Schofield of the Orland Fire Protection District credited Old Navy employees getting everyone out safely and the store’s sprinkler system stopping the fire from spreading and turning into a massive conflagration.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The store sustained fire, smoke and water damage, fire officials said

Food Processing, Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Norcross, GA – Fire at corn mill contained with help from sprinkler system; Exhaust pipe identified as origin of fire

An exhaust pipe in a corn mill and refinery is believed to have caused a fire at the Norcross business Friday afternoon. Firefighters responded at 12:28 p.m. to an automatic fire alarm at Olé Mexican Foods, Inc., which is located on Crescent Drive NW in unincorporated Norcross, after the alarm company told dispatch that multiple manual pull stations had been activated, said Justin Wilson, a spokesman for the Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Several other people called 911 to report a fire on top of the building and smoke coming from the business as well, Wilson said, and on scene, firefighters found the six-story building with heavy smoke coming from the roof.

“Crews quickly deployed a high-rise pack to the fourth floor and connected to the building’s standpipe system,” he said. “The fire pump for the standpipe system was currently operating and the sprinkler system was active. A carbon dioxide extinguishing system also discharged on the fifth floor. Heavy smoke conditions and fire was located on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors.”

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire on all floors before redirecting to the roof, where the blaze was still active. “Before the fire could breach the affected (exhaust) system, copious amounts of water was applied to extinguish the blaze,” Wilson said. “The fire was contained to metal pipe used in a process to dry corn flakes prior to the refinery process. Crews began ventilating the residual smoke from the building using positive pressure fans.” Wilson said about 60 firefighters were on the scene due to the size and complexity of the incident and later determined that the fire originated on the fourth floor from malfunctioning equipment. He added that the corn flakes in the pipe contributed to the spread of flames inside the machinery. No injuries were reported and the fire was under control within two hours of arrival.

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