Tag Archives: Afternoon (12pm-6pm)

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Chesapeake Beach, MD – Sprinkler system activated for kitchen fire at townhouse; No injuries reported

A fire suppression system is being credited with halting a kitchen fire before it could spread through a Chesapeake Beach townhouse Sunday afternoon, May 18, 2025.

Crews responded to the scene following a report of smoke coming from a residence in the 2600 block of Deerfield Lane. Units from multiple jurisdictions, including North Beach, Dunkirk, Huntingtown, Prince Frederick, and Anne Arundel County, responded to the scene.

Units first to arrive reported visible smoke from a two-story townhouse.

Firefighters quickly located a kitchen fire that had already been contained by a single sprinkler head from the home’s automatic fire suppression system. Crews confirmed the fire was extinguished, shut off the sprinkler system, and ventilated the residual smoke.

Officials said the fire damage was limited to the kitchen. No injuries were reported, and the occupants were not home at the time of the fire.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Dayton, OH – Sprinkler system contains fire at laboratory; No injuries reported

Crews from Dayton Fire, AES Ohio and the Dayton Regional Hazmat team were on scene of a lab fire Monday afternoon.

According to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch, dispatchers received a call at 4:43 p.m. for firefighters to respond to the 100 block of River Park Drive for a reported fire at the GE Aerospace facility.

Mary Ann Kabel, corporate communications director at AES Ohio, told 2 NEWS linemen crew were called to the scene to shut electricity off to the entire building.

According to DFD District Chief Nick Judge, the fire was contained to a laboratory within the building, which presented unique challenges that prompted the large response.

Due to the possibility of hazardous materials in the lab, hazmat teams were called to the scene, but crews ultimately determined there to be no need.

DFD says the fire was mostly contained by the sprinkler system by the time crews were able to make entry.

Investigation is underway regarding the cause of the fire, which seems to have started within some machinery in the lab.

No injuries were reported. Fire crews will remain on scene until investigators finish their assessment.

WDTN reached out to GE Aviation for additional information. We have not yet heard back.

Apartment Building, Residential

Collegedale, TN – Sprinkler system extinguished fire at apartment complex

A sprinkler system prevented a major fire at an apartment complex in Collegedale Sunday, May 5.

The Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department says they were dispatched to Hawthorne at the Summit apartments around 4:30pm after a fire alarm was activated.

When crews arrived, they discovered that an unattended candle caught a towel on fire inside one of the units, which activated the sprinkler system.

The fire was out before firefighters even made it on scene.

Flames were contained to the bathroom. Two apartments sustained water damage from the sprinkler.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Parma, OH – Sprinkler system controls fire at nursing home; No injuries reported

A fire that broke out in the basement of a Parma nursing home on Monday was swiftly controlled by the facility’s sprinkler system before firefighters arrived. Around 5 p.m., the call prompted the Parma Fire Department to respond to reports of smoke and a possible fire at Parma Care Center, located at 5553 Broadview Road. Fortunately, the nursing home and rehabilitation center, with a capacity of 96 residents, did not have to face any injuries or displacement from the incident.

According to a statement from Fire Chief Mike Lasky, as reported by FOX8 News, the fire was quickly identified as in the basement and contained by the sprinklers installed within the building. Firefighters could fully extinguish the flames upon their arrival, preventing further damage. The efficiency of the fire suppression system was praised, with Lasky pointing out that this is a “great example of well maintained as well as regularly inspected fire suppression and alarm systems working properly to mitigate the risk of fire spread.”

The incident was a close call for residents and staff at Parma Care Center but served as a testament to the importance of proper fire safety measures. Details regarding the cause of the fire remain under investigation. Despite the limited scale of the fire, the quick reaction of the building’s safety systems and the prompt response from the local fire department ensured that the blaze did not escalate, as posted by the Parma Fire Department on their social media.

“No one was hurt or displaced by the fire,” reads the social media post by the Parma Fire Department, underscoring the incident’s fortunate conclusion. Further reporting from local news outlet FOX8 echoed this sentiment, highlighting that no firefighters or any of the facility’s 96 residents were injured during the blaze. As local authorities continue to investigate and pinpoint the exact cause of the fire, the community breathes a sigh of relief thanks to the effective deployment of safety measures that helped safely contain the potentially dangerous situation.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Parma, OH – Sprinkler system controls basement fire at rehab center; No injuries reported

Fire broke out at a Parma nursing home and rehab center Monday afternoon.

Crews were called to the Parma Care Center on Broadview Road around 5 p.m.

When firefighters arrived they found a small fire in the basement that had been brought under control by the sprinkler system.

The fire was fully extinguished by Parma fire units.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

No firefighters or any of the facility’s 96 residents were injured during the blaze.

Apartment Building, Residential

Kaukauna, WI – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire on second-floor balcony

A sprinkler system is credited with successfully extinguishing a small fire Saturday at Lamplighter Apartments in Kaukauna.

According to a news release, the Kaukauna Fire Department responded to an alarm and water flow activation at the two-story complex around 3:30 p.m.

When they arrived, firefighters saw residents evacuating the building, but no visible signs of smoke or flames.

A search, with the assistance of residents, located what had been a small fire on a second-floor balcony.

The fire had been completely extinguished by a single sprinkler head before firefighters arrived.

Fire damage was limited to the exterior of the building.

The sprinkler system prevented the fire from spreading into the attic, significantly minimizing property damage and potentially saving lives, according to firefighters.

The Kaukauna Fire Department also reminded residents to properly dispose of smoking materials in fireproof receptacles.

Apartment Building, Residential

San Francisco, CA – Sprinkler system activated for battery fire at apartment building; No injuries reported

Firefighters responded to a fire in San Francisco caused by a battery that was charging Sunday, fire officials said.

The battery caught fire while charging in a unit in an apartment building on Minna near Sixth Street around 3:15 p.m., according to the fire department.

A fire sprinkler slowed the progress of the fire and firefighters rescued two dogs from the unit.

No injuries were reported, according to the fire department.

Apartment Building, Residential

Dalton, GA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment complex

A Tuesday afternoon fire at the Crown Mill Lofts apartments could have been much worse but it was stopped by the building’s sprinkler system.

The fire started in an electrical outlet when a resident was not home. Thanks to the sprinkler system, the damage was limited to some scorched drywall, a burned dresser and water damage. There were no injuries.

“It’s a textbook example of why sprinkler systems are important,” said Dalton Fire Marshal Donnie Blankenship. He’s using the incident as a reminder of the importance of making sure sprinkler systems are in good working order. “Those are concrete floors (in the apartment) but if I’m not mistaken there’s a lot of heavy timber in there … they may have put concrete over the timber … but you had the potential of another Thread Mill-style fire with that building. Other than some water damage to some apartments below it, there was minimal damage.”

“There was a dog and two cats in the apartment,” Blankenship added. “And all those survived.”

Blankenship is in charge of the Dalton Fire Department’s Prevention Division. The firefighters in that division are tasked with inspecting the fire prevention systems in new buildings and making sure they are up to code as well as inspecting the fire safety systems in existing businesses and apartment buildings on an annual basis.

“We go out to these buildings and make sure they’re maintained annually and that way, when (a fire) does happen, the sprinklers and alarms work properly,” Blankenship said. “We don’t see many (systems) that are totally inoperable, but we see the majority of them have some type of issue that we usually address with (the owners) to get them to fix it.”

The fire department also receives reports from sprinkler and fire alarm contractors who do any work in the city, and the department reviews those reports to make sure the systems are working properly. If any deficiencies are noted, the department contacts the companies to make sure they’re fixed.

Blankenship said if any building managers or property owners are concerned about the condition of their sprinkler systems or other fire safety equipment, they can contact the Dalton Fire Department to request an evaluation.

“We’ll come out and inspect it, and their sprinkler contractors usually are set up to come out at a certain time, usually once a year, to inspect them, too,” Blankenship said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Bangor, ME – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment complex

At least 13 downtown Bangor residents were displaced Monday when their apartment units were damaged by water from the sprinkler system.  

Bangor firefighters responded to reports of smoke and water coming from an apartment on the fourth floor of 35 Main St. at 2:25 p.m. on Monday, said Assistant Fire Chief Chandler Corriveau.

First responders discovered a fire in an apartment building on the fourth floor that was contained on the stove, but had spread to the nearby kitchen cabinets, Corriveau said. The sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived.

The tenant who lives in the apartment where the fire began was not home at the time of the fire, Corriveau said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The sprinklers caused damage in 11 of the 13 apartments in the building, all of which are occupied, and the commercial space on the first floor, which holds the Salty Brick Market, Corriveau said. None of the tenants were staying in the building Monday night.

“The sprinkler system did exactly what it was supposed to do – it put the fire out,” Corriveau said. “If the sprinkler system hadn’t put the fire out, we would have used way more water trying to extinguish an apartment fire that had grown larger in size than just being on the stovetop.”

Firefighters tried to salvage and protect merchandise in the Salty Brick Market and protect it from water that was pouring down from the floors above, Corriveau said, but some items in the store were certainly damaged.

The American Red Cross was assisting the building residents and the building owner also enlisted a company to clean up the water on Monday, Corriveau said.

Firefighters closed a portion of Main Street from where the road intersects with Broad and Middle and Water streets from roughly 2:30 to 3:40 p.m. on Monday to address the fire and water damage.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Lincoln, NE – Sprinkler system contains fire at manufacturing plant; No injuries reported

LFR crews were sent to the Continental rubber manufacturing plant near 56th and Seward Thursday afternoon.  Public Information Officer MJ Lierman says they got the call around 2:30.  “There was a piece of machinery that’s in it’s own room that caught on fire.”

She says the sprinkler system inside the room contained the fire.  “LFR was called to make sure there was no extension and there were also some solvents that were involved with that machine.”  Lierman says it’s unclear if any solvents caught fire.

There were no injuries and the damage totals are not yet known.  Continental ContiTech specializes in the development, manufacturing, and sale of intelligent components primarily composed of rubber, plastic, metal, and fabric.

Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers