Tag Archives: California

Residential, Residential High Rise

Los Angeles, CA – Sprinkler system activated for dumpster fire in high-rise basement; No injuries reported

Firefighters Sunday knocked down a dumpster fire in the basement of a 38-story high-rise in Westlake, which triggered alarm and fire sprinkler activations on multiple floors, authorities said.

Firefighters dispatched at 5:39 a.m. to 1100 W. Wilshire Blvd. had the fire out at 6:18 a.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.

“Firefighters located a dumpster fire in the basement, which triggered fire sprinklers in a trash (chute) room on the 17th floor and is the source of the smoke,” said Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“Firefighters will work with the building engineer to manipulate the HVAC system to fully ventilate the building and remove the smoke,” Stewart said. “Any occupants not already evacuated are being advised to shelter in place.”

Firefighters will continue to ascend the structure’s stairwell and check every floor to the top, to evaluate smoke conditions, Stewart said.

No injuries were reported.

Animal Shelter / Animal Care Center

Milpitas, CA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at animal shelter; No injuries reported

One of the major animal shelters in the South Bay is working to reopen after a fire forced staff and animals to evacuate.

The fire that broke out at Humane Society Silicon Valley in Milpitas on Monday morning forced the center to close and discontinue all services while repairs are underway.

There were no injuries, but it has put pet adoptions on hold during one of the busiest times of the year.

On Tuesday afternoon, crews worked outside the complex to clean up what was primarily water damage, according to officials at the shelter.

On Monday morning, a fire inside the ceiling of the center’s laundry room triggered the fire suppression sprinkler system, which caused most of the damage.

It “caused a lot of water damage in our medical clinic as well as in our operations area which is adjacent to the laundry room and has left about half of our building unusable,’ said Nancy Willis, the vice president of strategic growth at the shelter.

Willis said there were just under 100 animals in the shelter at the time of the fire. The Humane Society called in its team of foster families to get many of them offsite and into stable environments while repairs are made to the building.

“Of course, all of the animals were evacuated out of the shelter because we did not know what was going to happen,” Willis said.

The news of the closure came as a surprise to some people who arrived hoping to adopt pets.

“I came today to get a dog for my children,” said Milpitas resident Nico Afuola.

Afuola stopped by the shelter on his lunch hour to try to adopt a dog as a Christmas gift for his family.

“I mean I was kind of bummed out, you know, I wanted to get a dog, but it is OK I will go take a look somewhere else. But this is my first choice,” Afuola said.

The fire also damaged the shelter’s computer servers, interrupting the ability to show online animals available for adoption.

The center plans to reopen its adoption services on Wednesday and believes the community will respond.

“Folks will come in, adopt the animals that we have on our adoption floor now, and we will be able to continue to bring animals in and find loving homes for them,” Willis said.

Milpitas Fire Chief Jason Schoonover said in a statement on Tuesday, “Additional investigation found that the fire appeared to have started in a portion of the building utilized for utility and laundry purposes, prior to spreading to the attic and activating the automatic fire sprinkler protection system.”

He added that while the sprinkler system minimized fire spread, the facility sustained substantial smoke and water damage.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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.

Other - Residential, Residential

Perris, LA – Sprinkler system extinguishes stovetop fire

One person was taken to a hospital for evaluation following a stovetop fire at a three-story, multifamily building in Perris Tuesday.

The fire in the 20 block of South D Street was reported at 8:05 a.m. Tuesday and extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system before firefighters arrived, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

The Red Cross was requested to provide assistance for eight adults displaced in the fire, the fire department reported.

No firefighter injuries were reported.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business, Uncategorized

San Diego, CA – Sprinkler system activated for lithium-ion battery fire at electric vehicle charging station

San Diego Fire-Rescue crews responded to reports of a fire in downtown San Diego and found smoke coming from electric vehicle battery charging stations, according to the department.

When crews arrived at a residential building on G Street, they found smoke coming from a unit on the 4th floor but no fire.

The source of the smoke was a few lithium-ion battery charging stations for electric vehicles, the department said.

The building’s fire suppression sprinkler system wasn’t triggered, and no one was injured.

G Street was temporarily shut down between 13th Street and 15th Street, and residents were evacuated while fire crews handled venting the building.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Half Moon Bay, CA – Sprinkler system contains fire at beach house; No injuries reported

Fire officials performed a full evacuation of the Beach House at Half Moon Bay after an early-morning fire erupted in the hotel’s laundry room.

Automatic alarm systems at the luxury hotel alerted fire personnel around 5:30 a.m. to a structure fire spreading on the first floor. Six fire crews responded to the scene and evacuated about 30 guests and hotel employees from the premises.

The first responders to the fire found that the automatic sprinkler system at the hotel had contained most of the blaze.

The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. Battalion Chief Clayton Jolley said the fire was likely triggered by the water heater in the laundry room and then spread to other combustibles such as linens and baskets lying around the area.

Jolly estimated the cost of the damage from the blaze to be around $15,000, primarily due to water damage caused by the hotel’s sprinkler system.

Guests were allowed to return to their rooms by 6:30 a.m.

In 1996, the unfinished structure of the Beach House hotel was destroyed in a suspicious fire that started in the building just days before the sprinkler system was installed. The fire completely wrecked the structure, causing $2.5 million in damages.

Investigators treated the fire as an arson case, which officially remains open to this day, although no suspect has ever been identified.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Folsom, CA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at hotel; No injuries reported

There’ll be extensive cleanup ahead for the Hampton Inn in Folsom after a fire sparked in a hotel room Sunday.

According to Folsom Fire Department, the fire started in a fourth floor hotel room.

While the fire was extinguished,  the sprinkler system left behind water damage in several rooms and floors. Fire officials ultimately described the damage as moderate and added that no one was injured.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials said there’ll be “extensive clean up” due to the sprinkler system.

A front desk representative at the hotel said the water damage was minimal and the hotel got an OK from the fire department to let everyone back into their rooms. They said they don’t see the incident interrupting business.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Redding, CA – Sprinkler system activated for electrical fire at theater; No injuries reported

The Redding Fire Department responded to an electrical fire inside the Axiom Repertory Theatre in Redding early Wednesday morning.

Around 6:40 a.m. the Redding Fire Department responded to the theatre on Bechelli Lane.

According to theatre officials, there were no injuries, and NorCal Corals, the aquarium retailer next door, has not been damaged. RFD said the Axiom was unoccupied at the time of the blaze.

The executive director of the Axiom Theatre Nancy Hill, said they don’t know exactly how it happened, but the sprinkler system did its job, and now they will deal with the water damage.

RFD said the cause of the incident was determined to be a electrical failure or malfunction.

Apartment Building, Residential

Mountain View, CA – Sprinkler system activated for laundry room fire at apartment complex

Residents of a Mountain View apartment complex were forced to evacuate yesterday afternoon when a fire broke out in the building’s laundry room. According to a social media post from the City of Mountain View Fire Department, the emergency call occurred at 3:51 p.m. from the 800 block of N Rengstorff Avenue. All tenants managed to leave the building unharmed before the arrival of the fire crew.

The first engine company reached the scene within three minutes of dispatch, encountering smoke on the third floor and heavy smoke in the laundry room. With the laundry room’s sprinkler system already engaged due to the heat from the blaze, firefighters were tasked with ceasing the water flow, ensuring the fire had not spread, and starting the overhaul process.

Authorities stated that the active sprinkler system aided the fire’s quick containment, which effectively isolated the flames to the laundry room. “Firefighters discontinued the water flow from the sprinklers, confirmed there was no fire extension into the building,” noted the Fire Department’s post. Salvaging operations were initiated to minimize water damage to affected areas, including two second-floor apartments directly beneath the laundry room.

The cause of the fire, which was successfully extinguished without injuries, was a clothes dryer that overheated due to lint accumulation. The Fire Department estimated the damages to the building and contents amounted to $40,000. During the incident, the Mountain View Police Department temporarily closed a lane on N Rengstorff Avenue to facilitate fire unit operations.

As a reminder for residents, the City of Mountain View Fire Department pointed to guidance from the National Fire Protection Association on dryer safety: “The NFPA recommends that your dryer be installed and serviced by a professional, never use a dryer without a lint filter, clean the lint filter after each load of laundry and ensure the air exhaust vent pipe is not restricted when the dryer is operating.”

Office Building, Other Business

Mountain View, CA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Google office

An office building at Google’s Mountain View campus caught fire on Tuesday evening, resulting in approximately $200,000 worth of damage.

The blaze was reported at approximately 5:18 p.m. in a two-story building at 2081 Stierlin Court in Mountain View, the Mountain View Fire Department said in a Facebook post. Fire crews arrived on the scene approximately five minutes later after 25 employees had self-evacuated.

Fire personnel located smoke coming from a computer lab, where an overhead sprinkler had been activated. Crews were able to turn off the sprinkler and “remove water and smoke from the affected office space” without damaging the electronics.

Officials believe the lab caught fire after an “unattended electrical component” overheated on a workbench, the fire department said. Firefighters extinguished the fire and recharged the sprinkler system.

Google officials will be in charge of restoring the facility, the fire department said. The company did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.

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