Tag Archives: British Columbia

Apartment Building, Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant, Residential

Kamloops, BC, Canada – Fire sprinklers keep fire under control at hotel; No injuries reported

A fire last night at the Sandman Inn and Suites left 65 people without a place to sleep.

Around 8:20 p.m., Kamloops Fire Rescue (KFR) was called to the hotel (which also has apartments), says Platoon Capt. Troy Grant.

“Arriving a couple of blocks away, we could see flames on the roof of the building,” he tells KamloopsMatters. “The fire was in the attic and going through the roof in a couple of spots.”

KFR was able to quickly knock the fire down, using hoses from the outside and a ladder truck. They did have to remove a six-foot-by-12-foot section of the roof to get to it.

No injuries were reported, but the building remained empty overnight.

“65 residents were displaced,” Grant says. “Those have been taken care of by emergency support services.”

He adds that some will likely be able to return to their homes tonight, but others won’t be so lucky. The fourth floor, where the fire took place, has apartments, he adds. Along with some smoke damage and the removed section of the roof, he says there’s extensive water damage in some units, and likely more below.

“The cause of fire was in the attic itself; it appears electrical in nature,” Grant says. “The fire was kept small by the sprinkler system — the sprinklers were on for some time.”

Because of that, the roof collapsed in one unit and is sagging in others.

While the fire was knocked down relatively quickly, Grant says KFR stayed on the scene for a couple of hours to help guests and residents move out of the building.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada – Space heater fire contained to single room thanks to fire sprinkler system at senior housing center

A long-term care home in Brentwood Bay was damaged by a fire Monday night.

The Central Sannich Fire Department received the call at 9:30 p.m. for a structure fire. Additional crews from North Saanich and Sidney were called in to assist.

The fire was contained to one room thanks to the sprinkler system but the water did cause damage to the rest of the care home.

“The immediate challenges with this fire were it’s a multi-unit building and with the occupants that are in there are not very mobile. So our priority was to make sure they were safe and out of harm’s way and to also stop the flow of water and clear the building of smoke,” said Chris Vrabel, Central Saanich Fire chief.

Brentwood House provides care for dementia patients and is temporarily closed while the damage is dealt with, displacing 17 patients.

Residents were taken to a nearby facility and family members were contacted. Island Health found temporary homes for those in need. 

The cause of the fire was determined to be a space heater.

There is no word to when the care home will re-open.

Apartment Building, Residential

Maple Ridge, BC, Canada – Apartment sprinkler system stops second floor fire from spreading; No injuries reported

The call initially came in late Tuesday night as alarms sounding, but it turned out to be an actual fire in the kitchen of a second-storey apartment on 224th Street and 122nd Avenue in Maple Ridge.

“It originally came in as alarms ringing, but when the crews arrived on scene, they actually found there was a fire in a suite,” Maple Ridge Fire and Rescue chief Howard Exner said Wednesday.

Initially, two trucks arrived on scene when the call first came in just before 11 p.m., but that was soon upgraded to 10 trucks.

No one was home at the time, but there were two dogs and a cat in the suite, said Exner.

“And they’re doing fine.”

He added that the building is equipped with water sprinklers.

The sprinklers activated and stopped the progress of the fire, “and allowed us to put out the remaining parts of the stuff that was on fire,” Exner said.

In addition to the fire-damaged suite, there was also some water damage to units below.

There were no injuries.

Child Care Facility, Hospital/Care Facility

Victoria, BC, Canada – Fire sprinklers keep fire contained to kitchen at daycare center; No injuries reported

A fire that sparked in a daycare along West Saanich Road Thursday evening resulted in no injuries, but did delay traffic, according to authorities.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., the Saanich Fire Department was called to the 4300-block of West Saanich Road for reports of a structure fire.

In a tweet, the Saanich Fire Department said that the fire started in the daycare area of the building, but was limited to the kitchen section by automatic sprinklers.

Police say that traffic in the area was severely affected by the fire, especially along West Saanich Road, Royal Oak Drive, the Quadra Street off ramp onto the Patrica Bay Highway and Glanford Avenue.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system contained fire on university campus; No injuries reported

According to a statement issued by the Vancouver school, the “small fire” was discovered early Saturday morning but was fully extinguished and there were no injuries.

“While there is limited damage from the fire and the sprinkler system, we are grateful that it is not more extensive,” the statement read.

“The areas most impacted are the Research and Industry Office and Painting and Drawing studios on Level 4. There is also some water damage in other areas of the building.”

The school, located at 520 East 1st Ave., remains closed on Sunday while restoration crews continue the mop-up and repair, and as Vancouver police continue their investigation into the cause of the fire.

“We would like to thank members of the Emily Carr community for their patience and understanding,” the statement read.

School officials expect to issue an update no later than 6 a.m. on Monday about whether the school will re-open on Monday.

Residential, Single Family Home

North Vancouver, BC, Canada – In-home sprinkler system saves home from fire; no injuries reported

The North Vancouver City Fire Department is crediting an in-home sprinkler system with saving a Grand Boulevard area house from fire Wednesday morning.

A Canada Post employee on his route noticed smoke and water coming from inside the house on the 1500 block of Ridgeway Avenue and called 911.

When crews arrived, the smoke detectors could be heard but there wasn’t much to see from the outside.

“The reason for that was it was a newer build house and it had sprinklers,” said assistant chief Greg Schalk. “Essentially at that point in time, the fire was out.”

The residents were not home at the time. They will receive temporary accommodations from Emergency Social Services, Schalk said, but they will have to look to their insurers for something over the longer term.

“They’ll be out for a while. Obviously, they’re going to have to get a restoration company in to start managing the fallout,” he said.

“In the end, the majority of the damage was caused by the water, not the fire. But [the sprinkler] probably saved the house.

“They seemed grateful and understood the fact that if there weren’t sprinklers in the house, the story would have been completely different.”

There is no requirement for sprinklers in single-family homes, but Schalk said he recommends them for any new build.

The exact cause of the fire hasn’t been determined yet but investigators feel they have it narrowed down, Schalk said.

“It definitely started in the laundry room and it looked like it had something to do with either the washer or the dryer,” he said.

Other - Retail, Retail

Courtenay, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system stops fire from spreading from roof at pharmacy

A fire in the roof of Living Room Pharmacy was quickly extinguished by Courtenay Fire Department.

There was nobody at the business when the fire broke out, at approximately 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“It started [around] the sign at the front of the building; there’s actually no damage inside the building, really,” said Living Room Pharmacy owner Greg Oksanen.

By the time the Courtenay Fire Department arrived, the business’s sprinkler system was fully activated.

“Absolutely – that’s what kept it in the location that it was at,” said Courtenay Fire Chief Don Bardonnex. “The fire was contained inside that peak point. The fire followed the wiring up over to the side, then ran up to the top, and went through the roof. That’s where it was when we arrived. The sprinkler system stopped it from spreading anywhere else.”

Bardonnex said the fire started in behind the sign itself, but the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Oksanen said he doesn’t expect the setback to affect business too much.

“We will have to mop up but we will deal with people who have to get a prescription today; otherwise we will ask them to come back tomorrow or the next day,” he said.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system knocks down third floor hotel fire; No injuries reported

A fire forced the evacuation of a Downtown Eastside hotel Saturday morning.

The flames broke out in a suite on the third floor of the Astoria Hotel on East Hastings Street at Hawks Avenue sometime before 9:45 a.m.

“Crews responded to this address for alarm bells ringing,” said battalion chief Dan Nichols of Vancouver Fire Rescue Services. “When they investigated, they found that there was a small fire in one of the suites.”

The fire was contained entirely to possessions within the room and did not spread to the building itself, Nichols said.

“It was mostly knocked down by the sprinkler system, but crews had to do a little bit of overhaul and knock down some of the hotspots,” he said.

No one was injured in the fire. Nichols said some of the suites below the one where it was located may have water damage, but residents were fortunate the building had functioning sprinklers.

“The sprinkler system was running for a while, but it did its job,” he said. “They’re lucky. It’s a good thing. Sprinklers work.”

The Astoria is one of several single resident occupancy (SRO) hotels in the Downtown Eastside operated by the Sahota family.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Kelowna, BC, Canada – Fire sprinkler contains fire at local business to single unit; No injuries reported

ORIGINAL: 2:55 p.m.

The fire sprinkler system at an industrial building near Reid’s Corner in Kelowna did its job Thursday afternoon.

Firefighters were called to 3396 Sexsmith Road about 2:15 p.m.

A fire had started at a cabinet making business in the building, which houses several units containing small manufacturing operations.

The sprinkler system worked well, and the fire did not spread to other units.

As of 2:45 p.m., fire crews were mopping up and some were preparing to leave the scene.

No one was injured in the incident.

The building’s occupants briefly evacuated the site, but were starting to filter back into their units.

UPDATE: 4:10 p.m.

While some units at an industrial building were hit by water damage during a fire Thursday afternoon, fire damage was contained to just one unit. 

The fire was sparked at a cabinet making shop at 3396 Sexsmith Road, inside a paint booth. 

The building, which houses several small manufacturing businesses, had a sprinkler system that worked well during the fire, and fire crews were able to contain the fire to the single business. 

Okanagan Restoration Services was on scene to assist with cleaning up the fire and water damage at the building. 

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Penticton, BC, Canada – Fire caused by forklift contained by fire sprinklers

Penticton fire crews were called to a blaze at Greenwood Forest Products just after 4:30 a.m. on Monday.

Firefighters saw black smoke coming out of the middle and north end of the building when they arrived, fire department Deputy Chief Chris Forrester said.

When crews entered the building, they found one of the forklifts had caught fire, he added.

“When we were setting up to enter the building, there were two very loud pops, and my best guess is that those were the tires exploding on the forklift,” Forrester said.

The sprinkler system had turned on and extinguished most of the blaze, according to Forrester.

Any damage inside the building was likely due to smoke or water damage, not flames, he added.