Tag Archives: California

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

South Lake Tahoe, CA – Kitchen fire kept in check by sprinkler system until fire crews arrived

Hunan Garden on Emerald Bay Road in South Lake Tahoe is closed after a fire broke out in the kitchen’s grease shoot, spreading to the stove and exhaust vent.

At 11:09 p.m. on January 18, crews from South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue arrived at the restaurant and saw flames shooting out of the vents on the roof. Not knowing the extent of the fire they called in Lake Valley Fire and Tahoe Douglas Fire to assist.

The hood system worked and kept the fire in check until the crews could extinguish the fire.

On Saturday morning, the building and health departments were on the scene with Battalion Chief Karl Koeppen to evaluate the damage. The restaurant will be closed until the stove and sprinkler system are back in service, clean-up of the fire aftermath is completed and the building can be re-inspected.

Residential, Single Family Home

Redding, CA – Vehicle fire in garage of home controlled with help from sprinkler system

A sprinkler inside a garage and firefighters quick response helped keep a vehicle fire from spreading beyond the garage Thursday morning. According to the Redding Fire Department, firefighters responded to a vehicle fire that was spreading into the garage of a home located at 2991 Sinaloa Trail off Hartnell Avenue around 4:40 a.m. When firefighters arrived on scene they found a vehicle fully involved in the driveway of the home and the flames were moving to the garage of the home.

A sprinkler inside the garage along with firefighters aggressive firefighting got the fire under control in about 10 minutes and prevented the flames from moving into the living quarters of the home. Officials said the home sustained moderate damage and the cause is still under investigation. Redding Fire officials would like to use this as an example of how effective residential fire sprinklers can be to minimize damage but more importantly, save lives.

Hotel / Motel

Rancho Cucamonga, CA – Sprinkler system activates in hotel fire; Assists firefighters in extinguishing blaze

A number of hotel guests had to be evacuated after a fire broke out at Four Points by Sheraton hotel, Tuesday night. Firefighters responded to the reported fire at the Four Points by Sheraton in the 11900 block of Foothill Boulevard around 9:55 PM. Units arriving on scene found a small fire in a third-floor room and quickly extinguished it. The flames were enough to activate the building’s sprinkler system. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Poway, CA – Grease fire at Panda Express extinguished by sprinkler system

A small grease fire Wednesday morning at a Poway restaurant caused a minor injury and resulted in the closure of the business.

Firefighters were called to Panda Express, 13624 Poway Road about 11:35 a.m. and found that a sprinkler had put the fire out. An employee suffered a minor hand burn but declined to be transported for medical attention, according to Mark Sanchez, the city’s director of safety services.

The restaurant will be closed until its reopening is authorized by the county health department, Sanchez said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Fresno, CA – Apartment fire quickly extinguished by sprinkler system

A woman was displaced from her apartment Sunday after accidentally starting a fire while putting away Christmas decorations, according to Fresno Fire Department Battalion Chief Thomas Cope.

Fire crews arrived to the CityView Apartments on Van Ness Avenue and Inyo Street just before 3 p.m. They immediately evacuated the whole building, Cope said.

The woman told firefighters she was putting Christmas decorations into a box and temporarily placed the box on the stove top, starting the fire.

The sprinkler system extinguished the fire quickly, but because of smoke damage, it will be unlivable for some time.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Berkeley, CA – Dryer fire in UC Berkeley residence hall prompted sprinkler system to activate

UC Berkeley students evacuated the Foothill residence hall Sunday after a clothes dryer caught fire in Building 1, according to Berkeley Fire Department spokesperson Keith May.

BFD responded to the fire about noon. According to May, smoke from the fire filled the laundry room and triggered smoke detectors, activating a sprinkler. When firefighters arrived on scene, they put out the fire “very quickly,” May said in an email.

May added that students evacuated appropriately. The dryer was removed and has since been turned over to the UC Fire Marshal.

This incident was not the first of its kind at a UC Berkeley facility. In 2017, a dryer fire in Maximino Martinez Commons prompted a full evacuation. Several years earlier, a dryer in the basement of Haas Pavilion also caughtfire.

Office Building, Other Business

Simi Valley, CA – Sprinkler system activates to assist firefighters in commercial business fire

Firefighters responded to a commercial structure on fire in Simi Valley on Saturday evening.  The fire was reported at 5:49 p.m. at 67 W. Easy St. The building is part of an office park called Simi Business Park West.  Firefighters arrived on the scene to find smoke coming out of the two-story building and the sprinkler system activated.  The fire was knocked down at 6:18 p.m., authorities said

Other-Government/Military, Recycling / Waste Facility

Redding, CA – Fire at solid waste facility extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Redding firefighters went to the city’s solid waste facility Saturday morning to extinguish a fire that was traced to some sort of hazardous material someone had recently dumped.  A city of Redding employee was operating a dump loader that came into contact with the “unknown material” that someone had recently dropped off, the fire department said.  The fire quickly grew in the pile of garage and the city’s airport rescue firefighting equipment was called in to spray foam on the blaze.  The fire activated the facility’s sprinkler system so an overhead water nozzle also helped crews. Four engines, a ladder truck and 17 firefighters responded.  No one was injured and firefighters spent two-and-a-half hours at the scene.  The fire department offered this safety message: “To prevent accidental fire through the reactions of chemicals, please discern the difference when dumping solid household waste as compared to hazardous materials.“

Office Building, Other Business

Healdsburg, CA – Sprinkler system limits damage in commercial building fire

Firefighters responded to a three-story commercial building fire near the Healdsburg downtown plaza Thursday afternoon, shutting down a portion of the city’s main thoroughfare for two hours. The Thanksgiving Day fire started just before 4:30 p.m. in the Brandt Insurance building in the 200 block of Healdsburg Avenue. A malfunctioning heater in the third-floor ceiling caused the smoke and flames, which set off the building’s internal sprinkler system, Healdsburg Fire Marshal Linda Collister said. Crews with Cal Fire, Cloverdale, Dry Creek Rancheria, Geyserville, Rincon Valley, Santa Rosa and Windsor assisted the Healdsburg Fire Department in extinguishing the blaze within 40 minutes. The southbound lanes of Healdsburg Avenue were reopened just after 6 p.m. Thursday. The building, which houses the insurance company, as well as retail stores on the first and second floors, was saved by its sprinkler system and had no structural, Collister said. She estimated the damage at $20,000-$30,000. 

Residential, Single Family Home

Ventura, CA – No injuries in house fire extinguished by sprinkler system

The <VC fire> department on Sunday responded to a house fire reported around 4:20 p.m. in the 500 block of Chesapeake Place, on the south side of Highway 126 east of south Petit Avenue. A two-story home was smoky inside, but crews found an upstairs fire sprinkler system had extinguished the flames, the department said. No one was injured.