Tag Archives: arson

Hotel / Motel

Astoria, OR – Arson fire at Comfort Suites hotel extinguished with help from sprinkler system

A homeless man has been indicted in connection with a gas leak and fire at the Comfort Suites in Astoria last September. Matthew Jay Burke, 26, allegedly removed a plug from a gas meter near the hotel. Natural gas eventually leaked into and outside of the building on Lief Erikson Drive, causing a spark outside. Flames from the fire extended into the laundry room. The fire was extinguished after a water pipe burst and a ceiling sprinkler activated, causing several inches of water to flood the ground floor. The incident caused the hotel to temporarily close.

Dozens of guests from 75 rooms were evacuated and transferred to other hotels in Astoria and Warrenton. No injuries were reported. Burke was indicted in late January but has been held in a California jail for a separate probation violation. It is unclear whether Burke intended to cause a fire at the hotel or simply damage property. He has been charged with eight counts of recklessly endangering another person and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief.

“Frankly, the motel was full,” Clatsop County Deputy District Attorney Ron Brown said. “The risk to the public could’ve been pretty substantial.” Burke has yet to be transferred to the Clatsop County Jail, and an arraignment has not been scheduled.

Primary / Secondary School

Orlando, FL – Arson fire in high school bathroom suppressed by sprinkler system; No injuries

A 14-year-old was charged with arson, Saturday, after an explosion that caused a fire inside a bathroom at Timber Creek High School, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Orange County Fire Rescue officials say the fire activated the sprinkler system inside the bathroom, putting the fire out. Officials say a secondary sweep of the campus showed another restroom was also set on fire. Firefighters say no one was hurt. Deputies say the teen is a student at Timber Creek High School.

Apartment Building, Residential

Greenwood Village, CO – Sprinkler system helps control arson fire at apartment building

A man was arrested and taken to the hospital Saturday afternoon after police said he was linked to multiple fires in their jurisdiction. Joe Bradley, Patrol Commander for Greenwood Village Police, said officers and firefighters responded to a fire in an apartment at Timber Creek. When firefighters and police arrived on scene, they located an active fire. South Metro Fire spokesman Eric Hurst told CBS4’s Dillon Thomas the sprinkler system in the unit had engaged the fire.

As firefighters cleared the building, police were warned of an unaccounted for person in the apartment. Shortly after, a different 911 call reported a separate fire along Yosemite. When police arrived to investigate the fire at Stoney Brook Apartments, they located an adult male allegedly attempting to set a bush on fire. Police said they attempted to contact the adult male who fled on foot. Police would later tackle the suspect and arrest him. Police then identified the suspect as the same person who was listed as missing in the apartment fire. Police said there was no threat to the community following the arrest.

College/University (on campus), School / University

St. Paul, MN – Sprinkler system halts arson fire at St. Catherine University; No injuries reported

Police arrested a 19-year-old former St. Catherine University student on Wednesday after eight small fires were set in seven buildings on the St. Paul campus.

No injuries were reported, and the St. Paul fire and police departments are investigating. Police had no immediate information about what the motive might have been.

All but one of the fires were in trash cans, mostly in women’s restrooms, said Assistant Fire Chief Mike Gaede. The largest fire was a chair that had been set ablaze in a lounge area, which activated a sprinkler system.

“That, by far, did the most damage to the building and the area,” Gaede said. The university said in a statement that the extent of the damage is being determined, but indicated it was not major.

The incident began when someone alerted St. Kate’s Public Safety to a fire in a basement bathroom in Derham Hall, an administrative building, which was followed by additional reports of fires, according to the university statement.

After a third fire was reported, “a pattern was noted, arson was suspected and university officials along with the St. Paul Police and Fire Departments were immediately alerted,” the statement said.

Officers responded to the campus at 11:40 a.m., along with firefighters, on a report of suspicious fires, according to police.

In addition to Derham Hall, the fires were found and quickly contained in Our Lady of Victory Chapel; Fontbonne and Mendel halls, which are classroom buildings; Butler Center, the fitness facility; St. Mary Hall, a dorm; and Coeur de Catherine, the student center, according to Sara Berhow, St. Kate’s spokeswoman. Two of the fires were set in Coeur de Catherine.

Campus public safety officers worked with the police and fire departments to review security footage and identified a suspect entering various buildings. At about 1:30 p.m., the suspect was found in a lounge in Crandall Hall, a dorm.

The woman, identified in a police report as Tnuza Jamal Hassan, was removed from campus at 2:35 p.m. and police arrested her on suspicion of first-degree arson.

Hassan, of Minneapolis, was a St. Kate’s student during the fall semester, but was not enrolled for January term or the spring semester, according to Berhow.

“While this was an unfortunate and stressful event, I am thankful we are all safe and for the wonderful and fast response of our Public Safety team along with the local police and fire departments,” said St. Kate’s President Becky Roloff. “Their thorough and quick actions helped ensure we were kept informed and the situation was resolved as quickly as possible.”

St. Kate’s is in session for students taking four-week January-term classes. The university notified their community on Wednesday about the incident via email, their emergency alert system and social media, with messages going out every 15 minutes until police gave the all-clear, Berhow said.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Puyallup, WA – Sprinkler system protects high school after banner set on fire

Two Emerald Ridge High School sophomores are in the custody of Pierce County sheriff’s deputies after lighting a banner on fire in the school’s common area, officials say.

The fire forced the evacuation of a wrestling match and caused sprinklers to douse the school’s common area with water.

A large banner was lit on fire and the smoke triggered the sprinkler system, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue spokesman Brian Levings said. A wrestling match was evacuated, Puyallup School District spokesman Brian Fox said.

Water from the sprinkler system was the primary concern, Levings said.

School will go on as scheduled, Fox said.

The extent of the damage from the fire and the water used to extinguish it is unknown.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Vineland, NJ – Sprinkler system limits spread of school arson fire; No injuries reported

Police arrested two students on Friday and charged them with arson after an investigation into a fire earlier this month at Veterans Memorial Intermediate School.  Two 14-year-olds were allegedly involved in an incident where a fire started in a boys’ bathroom, police said.  On Jan. 2, school officials evacuated the South Main Road school, sending the student body out into frigid conditions, when an alarm sounded.  A small fire in the boys’ bathroom activated the sprinkler system.  Once fire officials were on the scene, students returned to the building and were held in the auditorium and cafeteria while firefighters ventilated the ground-floor corridor and cleaned up the standing water.   Damage at the school was deemed minimal and confined to the bathroom, school officials said.  Both teens were processed and released to their parents pending further court action. They were also suspended from school, district officials said.

 

Apartment Building, Residential

Bremerton, WA – Overnight arson fire at apartment building extinguished by sprinkler system

Bremerton police have arrested a 45-year-old Gig Harbor man who they say was a person of interest in a Monday arson. Police said the man called detectives and later agreed to come to the police station for an interview. At the end of the interview, the man was arrested and booked into the Kitsap County Jail for the crimes of burglary, theft of a firearm and arson. The Bremerton Police Department said it is waiting to release the suspect’s name pending the Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charging decision.

Our earlier report from Jan. 2, 2018:
Bremerton police are asking the public’s help in identifying a man who they say is a person of interest in an arson on Monday. The fire happened Monday at about 2:15 a.m. Bremerton firefighters responded to a report of a fire at the Spyglass Hill Apartments in the 600 block of Highland Ave. The building was evacuated, and hundreds were forced outside in the cold according to Fire Marshals who are now investigating the incident as arson. Bremerton Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Prichard said the building’s sprinkler system managed to extinguish the fire. He also said the building is only a few blocks from the firehouse on Park Ave so the response went relatively smoothly.

“We identified a person that didn’t belong in the building didn’t know who he was so he’s a person of interest we want to find this guy and chat with him.”

Bremerton Police shared the man’s photo on social media, and even said they believed they knew who he was.

Fire investigators wouldn’t identify him by name but said the surveillance cameras at the apartment complex helped them start the arson investigation.

Resident Andrew Feliciano said that both he and his dog Roosevelt escaped when the fire broke out. They live adjacent to the unit where the fire happened. He was surprised that authorities said a man who didn’t live there managed to get in, “this place is like Fort Knox, it’s very secure. I’m not sure how that guy got in.”

Fire investigators said nobody was hurt in the fire, and it didn’t spread to any other buildings, in fact there never appeared to be a danger of that happening. They said roughly a dozen residents may have been displaced by the fire.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 360-473-5228.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Anchorage, AK – Suspicious fire at elementary school contained with help from sprinkler system

A “suspicious” fire early Sunday morning caused more than $100,000 in damage at College Gate Elementary School, according to the Anchorage Fire Department.

A witness called to report the fire in the East Anchorage school at about 12:30 a.m, AFD said in a release. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from a classroom at the corner of the building. The fire triggered a sprinkler system in the classroom. Thirteen fire vehicles responded and brought it under control by 12:52 a.m., AFD said.

Several classrooms were damaged by water, flames and smoke, according to school officials. The classroom where the fire began belonged to Heather Helgeson, who has 28 fourth-grade students returning to school in a week. She went to see her room on Sunday morning and made a video.

Her classroom window had been broken. “A flare got put in my room and it caught fire,” she said.

“The District will continue the clean up until school resumes,” Esary said.

Insurance will likely cover the cost of replacing the damaged electronics, she said.

A neighbor witnessed the vandalism and it was caught on camera, said Rob Holland, the District’s director of operations.

“At least one person is visible on the video. We can’t determine who that is. The police may or may not be able to,” he said.

A cleaning crew, four of them custodians, were summoned from their beds early Sunday and showed up within an hour of the fire, he said. Everyone is focused on minimizing the disruption for the children.

“The staff that deployed at 1 and 2 in the morning were heroic people,” he said. “We aren’t going to be held down by acts of violence. We’re going to turn this around and make it seamless.”

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Myrtle Beach, SC – Arson fire at hotel contained to room of origin by sprinkler system

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The Horry County Police Department arrested and charged a man in connection to a fire that displaced dozens of hotel guests in Horry County. According to J. Reuben Long Detention Center booking records, Tracy William Nelson, 45, of Myrtle Beach, was charged with second degree arson. Horry County Fire Rescue responded to the fire Tuesday evening at City Studios Hotel, located at 401 Hospitality Lane in Myrtle Beach. Responding crews say the fire was confined to a room on the second floor. A sprinkler system activation helped keep from spreading.

An official report from the Horry County Police Department says officers were “informed that it appeared a fire was started intentionally, due to a stove-top burner being left on with a box on top of it.” According to the report, officers were told no one was staying on the second floor because of ongoing renovations, with the exception of people hired to help with the project. Guests at City Studios Hotel were relocated to different hotels in the area, according to Horry County police. No injuries were reported. Nelson remains in jail Wednesday night on a $10,000 bond.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Colorado Springs, CO – Hotel sprinkler system activates in response to dumpster fire started outside

A man was arrested Sunday for allegedly setting several dumpsters on fire and vandalizing cars in downtown Colorado Springs.

Police responded about 7 p.m. to a call about a man starting dumpster fires and damaging cars. One fire was so big that it triggered the sprinkler system at a local hotel. Witnesses followed the suspect, later identified as Steven Roche, 51, to East Bijou and North Tejon streets.

Police say Roche became difficult when they tried to contact him. Police said Roche apparently used a rock to damage several cars.

He was arrested on suspicion of felony criminal mischief as well as resisting arrest and two counts of fourth-degree arson, all misdemeanors.