Tag Archives: California

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Santa Clara, CA – Fire at trade show exhibit hall contained by sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire yesterday at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, Calif., has forced the closure of the show floor. The fire started about Tuesday morning in the Santa Clara convention center.

An overhead sprinkler contained the blaze.

According to a worker for the show floor infrastructure provider, the sprinkler ran for about an hour before workers discovered the mishap. The booth underneath the blaze was heavily damaged, and there was water damage to some of the surrounding booths.

No one was injured.

According to the worker, the cause of the fire was an overloaded power strip that booth workers left under a pile of paper brochures. The exhibits were scheduled to open at 4pm on Aug. 9 but remained closed. They are now scheduled to open at noon on Aug. 10.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Centralia, CA – Forklift fire in warehouse contained with help from sprinkler system; No damage reported to structure

The Riverside Fire Authority responded last Monday to the north end of Centralia after a forklift caught on fire, threatening the contents of a warehouse. Firefighters responded at 2:50 p.m. to the 2000 block of Industrial Drive to a report of a forklift on fire at the Wayne Dalton warehouse, a manufacturer of wood garage doors. Crews arrived to find black smoke coming from the bay doors of the warehouse. A sprinkler system activated and helped contain the fire to the forklift. Fire crews contained the remainder of the fire, preventing it from spreading to the products in the warehouse. The forklift sustained heavy damage, but no damage to the warehouse structure was reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Huntington Beach, CA – Sprinkler system prevents early morning apartment fire from spreading

A portable air-conditioning unit sparked a fire in a Huntington Beach apartment Wednesday morning, according to fire officials. Huntington Beach firefighters responded at 5:48 a.m. to a fire at the Huntington Breeze Apartments at 16171 Springdale St. The first crews on the scene reported light smoke coming from the third story. City firefighters knocked down the blaze with help from the Orange County Fire Authority and the Fountain Valley Fire Department, said Capt. Steven Teasdale. A resident of the building was evaluated by paramedics but was not taken to a hospital. The building’s sprinkler system helped prevent the fire from spreading to additional units, Teasdale said.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Davis, CA – Sprinkler limits fire damage in on-campus residence hall; No injuries reported

UC Davis students were displaced from their dormitory Sunday after a stovetop fire triggered the building’s sprinkler system, according to the Davis Fire Department. Officials said burning oil caught fire in a fourth-floor unit at 8th and Wake, 1440 Wake Forest Dr., at about 8 p.m. The fire activated the sprinkler system, which soaked that unit as well as three below it.  No injuries were reported. About eight or nine students were displaced due to the water damage, but the building owner pledged to put them up in hotel rooms until they could return to their residences, fire officials said. Both Davis and UC Davis fire crews responded to the scene.

Apartment Building, Residential

Petaluma, CA – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; Elderly couple and daughter escape without injury

A small kitchen fire Friday displaced a Petaluma couple from their apartment at a senior living complex, fire officials said. An oiled pan heating on the stovetop was left unattended and caught fire about 12:15 p.m. at the Vintage Chateau Senior Apartments on North McDowell Boulevard, Petaluma Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Schach said.  The fire triggered the sprinkler system in the second-floor apartment. The water extinguished the fire and caused some flooding in the unit and ceiling damage to the first-floor apartment below.   Three people were home at the time of the fire, an elderly couple and their daughter, but no one was injured, Schach said. The unit sustained water damage and the residents would be displaced for several days, Schach said.

Residential, Single Family Home

Novato, CA – Sprinkler system extinguishes garage fire in million dollar home under construction

A fire sprinkler extinguished a fire sometime Thursday or early Friday that would have destroyed a Novato home worth more than a million dollars, fire officials said. The fire occurred between the time construction workers left the home in the 100 block of San Domingo Way Thursday and Friday morning when the general contractor stopped by.

Firefighters went to the three-story home at about 6:45 a.m. Friday to check whether any fire was left in the walls or other concealed places. Firefighters used thermal cameras and found the fire was indeed extinguished. “The home would have been a complete loss” if not for the sprinkler, Battalion Chief Bill Tyler said in a statement.

Fire officials believe the fire started when rags used to do some staining in the home Thursday spontaneously ignited in a bucket in the garage. The home is under renovations and no one was in the home when the fire occurred. The sprinkler system had been connected to a water supply three days before the fire, according to fire officials.  The sheet rock in the home was damaged by smoke, but the structural part of the home was not damaged, fire officials said.

According to Tyler, when the fire sprinkler contractor came to replace the sprinkler head that had activated the general contractor gave the sprinkler contractor a bear hug and said, “Thank you! Your sprinklers saved the house.”

Department Store, Retail

Northridge, CA – Trash compactor fire at Kohl’s store limited with help from sprinkler system

Los Angeles firefighters doused a dumpster fire on Saturday morning that broke out behind a Kohl’s store in Northridge. The blaze began at 8:18 a.m. at a combination compactor-dumpster that spanned the outside and inside of the Kohl’s store at 8800 Corbin Ave., said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. It took 34 firefighters 21 minutes to snuff it out.  A fire sprinkler system helped lesson the damage to store equipment and its loading dock, Humphrey said.  There were no injuries. The cause of the fire and damages were under investigation.

Residential, Single Family Home

Riverside, CA – Early morning house fire isolated to garage by sprinkler system; Family escapes unharmed

The garage of a two-story Riverside home ignited Wednesday morning, March 22.  Riverside firefighters responded to the 9400 block of Newbridge Road about 4:25 a.m. to a smoking garage, according to a news release from the Fire Department.  The home’s sprinkler system kept the fire isolated in the garage, the release said, and firefighters put out the flames. Crews then worked to remove water from the home.  The family of four inside the home made it out safely. Nobody was injured, the release said.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Ventura, CA – Sprinkler system holds flames in check after vehicle crashes into building and starts fire

Rescuers responded to a building that caught fire in Ventura early Friday after a vehicle crashed into it.

Firefighters received a report at 1:11 a.m. that a truck had slammed into and gone inside a two-story building in the 5700 block of Moon Drive, just north of Highway 101 and about a block west of South Victoria Avenue. The vehicle and the building both apparently caught fire.

Crews at the scene discovered one victim and requested an ambulance.

One man was taken to a local trauma center at 1:35 a.m. for injuries, just as the vehicle fire was reported knocked down. The structure fire was being held in check by a sprinkler system, firefighters said.

Officials said the fire was controlled within 23 minutes of firefighters arrival and put out an hour later.

Two other victims apparently left the scene, authorities reported to dispatchers.

In addition to Ventura City Fire, firefighters from Ventura County, Oxnard and Santa Paula fire departments as well as Ventura police also responded.

College/University (on campus), Other - Hospital/Medical, School / University

Palo Alto, CA – Lab fire at Stanford University Medical School held in check by sprinkler system

Palo Alto Fire crews knocked down a 3-alarm fire at Stanford University in Palo Alto after evacuating the surrounding area Saturday morning.  Crews first reported the fire on Twitter around 7:45 a.m. in the Edwards Building at 300 Pasteur Dr., which is connected to the hospital.

A hazmat team is still on site because the fire started in and burned a laboratory containing bio-hazardous waste, Palo Alto Fire said.  Also on site are 60 firefighters from Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, 9 fire engines, five trucks, two medic ambulances, and five Command Chiefs. The main entrance to Stanford’s hospital is closed. Officials are redirecting those trying to enter the facility through other doors

A sprinkler system contained flames to a room on the third floor, according to Palo Alto Fire.  Around 8:00 a.m., the fire was upgraded from a 2-alarm to a 3-alarm.  Around 8:25 a.m., crews reported the fire was out. Since the fire was in the Medical School Building, officials say there was no threat to hospital patients. No injuries have been reported at this time.