Tag Archives: arson

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Juneau, AK – Arson fire in high school bathroom extinguished by sprinkler system

The Juneau Police Department is seeking an arsonist after a small fire halted classes at Thunder Mountain High School on Tuesday morning. “The fire marshal and JPD are investigating the fire as arson,” said Assistant Fire Chief Ed Quinto on Monday afternoon.  Fire Marshal Dan Jager confirmed that JPD’s school resource officers are investigating who might have set a toilet paper dispenser on fire in a boys’ bathroom.  It might be only a toilet paper dispenser, but “it’s kind of a significant thing,” Jager said.

The fire was hot enough to trigger the school’s sprinkler system, which enthusiastically extinguished the flames and overwhelmed the bathroom’s floor drains. Building-wide fire alarms went off, triggering the evacuation. “It sounds like the sprinklers did their job very effectively,” said Juneau School District Chief of Staff Kristen Bartlett.  The sprinklers quenched the fire but also flooded a nearby hallway and sent water into a few classrooms. Quinto estimates the water and fire damage at $2,500.

The fire started shortly before 10 a.m., and staff and students returned to the high school by 10:30, Bartlett said. The fire took place in the purple wing — the section of the school extending toward the football stadium — and classes scheduled for that wing were expected to resume in the afternoon.

“The custodians and the Thunder Mountain faculty and staff and the maintenance department were excellent at getting things cleaned up,” Bartlett said.  Parents of students at Thunder Mountain High School and nearby Riverbend Elementary School received two calls from the school district: The first call alerted them to the fire; the second told them the fire had been extinguished.

Bartlett said she cannot recall any similar arsons at Juneau high schools. Quinto said he remembers a fire in the girls’ bathroom in the same wing a few years ago. According to Empire records, a small fire scorched Thunder Mountain’s turf field in 2011. A more serious arson burned the turf at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park in 2012.

 

Quinto added that while Thunder Mountain has cameras covering its entrances and common areas, there are no cameras in the hallway outside the bathroom.

Other - Retail, Retail

Gilroy, CA – Sprinkler system helps protect Salvation Army store from fire set by thieves

A 2-alarm fire at a Salvation Army facility in Gilroy destroyed $5,000 worth of donations.

Monday’s 2 a.m. blaze is being investigated as suspicious by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and Gilroy Police Department.

Flames spread through a trailer filled with donations.

Workers at the Salvation Army said the trailer has been broken into several times before at night, and the thieves use candles to light their way through darkness.

Workers suspect a thief’s candle sparked the fire.

The Gilroy Fire Department wrote on Facebook, “Crews responded to the Salvation Army store on Camino Arroyo, where they found a 53 (foot) trailer on fire up against the loading dock. The fire extended into the building but was held in check by the sprinkler system.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Newark, NJ – Fires set by arsonists dressed as ninjas doused by apartment building’s sprinkler system

Police say two people dressed as ninjas broke into a New Jersey apartment building and set several fires.

Newark police officials say the unidentified man and woman broke in through a second-floor apartment. WNBC-TV reports that there is video showing the two exiting through a side entrance and running off down a hill.

Resident Melissa Ditonto says the alarm loudly alerted everyone to the fire and many people evacuated.

Police say the building’s sprinkler system quickly doused the flames. No one was injured.

Other Business

New Bedford, MA – Damage from arson fire at laundry business limited by sprinkler system

State and New Bedford fire officials are investigating another suspicious, early-morning fire that damaged a laundry building Thursday in the city’s near North End, officials said.  The fire at Purity Services Laundry, 405 Myrtle St., was in a garage loading area that is inside the building, according to Fire Chief Michael Gomes.

“It was not accidental,” the chief said of the fire.  Damage from the blaze was minimized due to the activation of the company’s sprinkler system, according to Gomes and Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state Fire Marshal’s office. Gomes said the Fire Department learned of the fire when the sprinkler system was activated.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within 20 minutes of their arrival. According to the New Bedford Police Department log, the fire occurred at 3:07 a.m. Thursday.  Items held in the storage area suffered fire damage and there was smoke damage throughout the building, Gomes said.

Officials with Purity Services Laundry were not available for comments Friday morning.

Investigators said they have not determined whether Thursday’s fire is related to numerous early-morning fires in the city’s near North End during July and August.

Chief Gomes said this fire is under investigation by the New Bedford Fire and Police Departments and the state Fire Marshal’s office.

Anyone with information can call the state’s arson hotline, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-800-682-9229, Mieth said. All calls are confidential.

Government Office, Government/Military

Riverside, CA – Arson fire at social services building contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A chair and other items in the Riverside County Department of Social Services building in Riverside’s Arlington neighborhood were set on fire Saturday night, authorities say.

Nobody was hurt in the fire, which set off alarms at 7:37 p.m. at the 21,000-square-foot building in the 3900 block of Reynolds Road, behind the Lowe’s on Magnolia Avenue, according to a Riverside Fire Department news release. The statement did not say anyone had been arrested.

Arriving firefighters found that the front door had been forced open and smoke was coming out, the news release said. When they went inside, they found “evidence of vandalism.”

The fire set off the building’s automatic sprinkler system and it was contained to an “office area,” the news release said. That’s where firefighters found a chair and other items that had been ignited. Firefighters shut off the sprinkler system and removed “large amounts of water from the building,” the news release said.

The Fire Department’s Arson Task Force is investigating.

Auto Dealership, Retail

Montreal, QC, Canada – Arson fire at car dealership put out by sprinkler system

A car dealership on Cote-de-Liesse was damaged by an incendiary device thrown through a window on Sunday morning.

At 2:00 a.m., a 911 call was made reporting the fire. When firefighters arrived, they found the fire extinguished by the sprinkler system.

Surveillance footage showed a man throwing an object at the window to break it and then throwing the incendiary device once they were inside.

The SPVM arson squad is investigating. No arrests have yet been made. 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

New Iberia, LA – Late night arson fire at medical center extinguished by sprinkler system

A man has been arrested after, fire marshals say, he intentionally set a fire at Iberia Medical Center early Friday morning. Ruddy Romero, Jr., 25, of New Iberia, allegedly set fire to a hospital blanket on a set of chairs in an Intensive Care Unit waiting room on the second floor. Romero set the fire before leaving the hospital, according to Chief Deputy Brant Thompson. State fire marshal investigators say the fire alarm system activated, hence alerting hospital employees, patients, and visitors. The alarm was immediately followed by the activation of the fire sprinkler system, which quickly extinguished the fire shortly before 1:30 a.m. Romero was later interviewed by investigators and admitted to lighting the blanket on fire, directly threatening more than 100 patients, staff members, and visitors, Thompson says. Romero was arrested on charges of aggravated arson. He is being held in the Iberia Parish jail on a $20,000 bond.

Apartment Building, Residential

Gwinnett, GA – Apartment sprinkler system puts out intentionally-set fire before fire department arrives

A Duluth woman is in jail after officials said she intentionally set her bed on fire in what is believed to be a domestic-related incident, fire officials said.

Eunok Yu, 38, was found lying “intoxicated” in the middle of Satellite Boulevard by a Gwinnett County battalion chief during the investigation, fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said. She had soot on her clothes and hands.

Yu was booked into the Gwinnett County jail on a pedestrian under the influence in the roadway charge. She was later charged with first degree arson once investigators discovered she’d set her bed on fire, Rutledge said. She also has an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.

Authorities arrived to the Bridgewater Apartments in the 1500 block of Ridge Brook Trail about 11:20 a.m. Thursday after a call about an apartment fire in Building 400. No one was inside the unit at the time of the fire.

The sprinkler system put out the fire by the time authorities arrived, Rutledge said.

Officials were asked to remain on the scene due to the suspicious nature of the blaze.That’s when fire officials found Yu in the middle of the street and arrested her near the apartment complex. Police later determined Yu lived at the apartment with her husband, who was not home when she allegedly set the fire.

Yu admitted she set the same bed on fire in the same apartment a month ago, but Rutledge said fire investigators found no record of responding to the incident. They are investigating the claims.

 

Place of Worship

Modesto, CA – Sprinkler system keeps arson fire at church from spreading

Treading carefully through standing water in the basement of Christ Unity Baptist Church on Tuesday afternoon, the Rev. Nathaniel Green and his wife, Dorothea, were pained by more than just the damage done in an act of arson and vandalism. They struggled to understand why.

The man suspected of breaking into the church on the 1300 block of L Street, 57-year-old Theodore Garcia, is someone they’ve cared for and employed, Nathaniel Green said. “He’s really worked for us,” the pastor said at his office desk. Behind him, a table was covered in broken glass from the window behind it. “He loves me and my wife, he loves this church.”

Green said he understands Garcia has battled drug addictions, and the pastor indicated he regrets that wages paid to him may have fed that addiction. He said he hasn’t spoken to Garcia but suspects that the man was despondent and suicidal. Garcia had knives with him, and bloody handprints (church staff believe he cut his hands breaking windows) were on at least two Bibles near the church altar.

“Isn’t it something, the power of what drugs can do?” Dorothea Green said as she surveyed fire damage, pried-open doors and other vandalism done throughout the basement. A couch was set on fire, as was clothing to be donated to the homeless. A fire in the dining hall damaged a table and carpeting. In all, the Greens believe five separate blazes were set. And the sprinkler system caused more damage, leaving water at least an inch deep throughout basement rooms and corridors.

The Rev. Green said the damage means the church’s homeless breakfasts and food giveaways will have to be put on hold. “I’m hoping we’ll be able to hold services,” he said. “We do have a few people with severe asthma,” he added, noting that smoke can be smelled throughout the church. The church also hosts several groups – including Narcotics Anonymous, children of alcoholics and families of inmates – that regularly meet in rooms, he said, that also will be temporarily affected.

The vandalism at the church came to light about 11:20 p.m. Monday when a sergeant and officer with Rank Investigation & Protection responded to a report of a subject breaking windows there. They encountered an uncooperative man who ran back inside the church and started a fire, according to a post on Rank’s Facebook page.

The Modesto Police and Fire departments were on scene within minutes, Rank reported. A Modesto Fire Department incident summary says light smoke was coming from the first and second floors of the southeast corner of the church. Crews determined a fire sprinkler was keeping the fires – in the basement level – from spreading. Police found the man on his hands and knees near the church altar, said Lt. Tom Ciccarelli. He was armed with knives and would not comply with commands from officers.

The department’s Critical Incident Team was activated to negotiate with the man, the lieutenant said. Talking with him was unsuccessful, Ciccarelli said. A bean bag round was fired at him, but had no effect.

At some point, the man – later identified Garcia – got up. When the knives were on the floor and he moved far enough away from them, officers were able to take him into custody, Ciccarelli said. Officers at the scene were unable to ascertain a motive, he said. The incident was concluded close to 2 a.m.

Garcia was medically cleared at the scene and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail. He is being held on charges of arson and vandalism, with bail at $200,000. The Rev. Green was dealing with his insurer Tuesday afternoon, but no financial estimate of church damage was immediately available.

Apartment Building, Residential

Nanaimo, BC, Canada – Arson fire at apartment building knocked down by sprinkler system

A suspicious fire in a Nanaimo apartment building forced about 50 tenants to evacuate on Tuesday (Aug. 8). Firefighters responded to the alarm at Parkside Manor apartments at 645 Townsite Rd. at about 3:30 p.m. Emergency personnel at the scene said the fire started in a storage room on the first floor of the building and was knocked down by the structure’s automatic sprinkler system. Firefighters ensured the fire was fully extinguished and used a large fan to force fresh air through the building.

Alan Millbank, Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officer, confirmed Wednesday the fire was suspicious and the investigation had been turned over to Nanaimo RCMP. “Somebody deliberately set it alight,” Millbank said.

Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said police were called in shortly after firefighters arrived on scene. “[Firefighters] found a wad of paper balled up in one of the storage lockers and it had been set on fire,” O’Brien said. “The fire extended up some wooden pallets to the ceiling at which point the sprinklers activated and put the fire out.”

No one was injured, but residents had to remain evacuated from the building for more than an hour while smoke fully cleared from the structure. Nanaimo RCMP are continuing to investigate the fire.