Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise Windsor, ON, Canada – Fire at senior high-rise apartment building controlled by sprinkler system April 9, 2016 viking210 Fire broke out late Wednesday night in a unit in a high-rise apartment building across from Coventry Gardens in Windsor. John Lee, with Windsor Fire and Rescue, says no one was injured. “We got a call about 10:15 p.m. to the Amica building. It is a vulnerable occupancy [building]. It’s a nursing [and] rest home, senior’s living. There was a fire on the second floor in one of the units. The sprinkler system activated. The resident got out safely,” he said. Windsor Fire and Rescue says because the sprinklers activated and kept the fire under control. An investigator will look into what started the fire on Riverside Drive, near Pillette Road.
Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Smithers, BC, Canada – Arson fire at sawmill controlled by sprinkler system April 7, 2016 viking210 A 49-year-old man is reportedly in police custody, in connection with two fires at the Pacific Inland Resources sawmill in Smithers. RCMP and the Smithers Fire Department were called to the mill shortly after 10pm last night. Fire chief Keith Stecko says mill employees activated fire supression systems quickly. “PIR has a sprinkler system in its building so the system quickly detected the fire and was able to control it; when we arrived we put out some spot fires, but the sprinklers largely did the work,” he said. Stecko says it appears some sort of accelerant was used — and there was considerable damage. “We’re estimating between $50,000 to perhaps $100,000; we are currently investigating what was used to start the fire, so we’re not sure at this point what it was,” he said.
Apartment Building, Residential Moncton, NB, Canada – Sprinklers keep overnight kitchen fire from spreading at high-rise apartment building; No injuries March 25, 2016 viking210 About 100 people were displaced from their apartments in a Moncton building overnight after a relatively minor fire in the kitchen area of one unit on Tuesday at around midnight. The fire in one unit of six-storey building triggered the sprinkler system in the building to go off and smoke spread to other units. “There was a small grease fire on the stovetop on one of the apartment units on the third floor,” said fire prevention officer Steve Richardson. “There was minimal damage from the fire and smoke but the heat activated three sprinkler heads. So there was heavy water damage to the apartment and the two floors below the fire floor. “It extinguished the fire really quickly but until the crews were able to get there and plug those sprinkler heads, there was a lot of water that ran through the building and the floors below from where the fire was.” Michael R. LeBlanc, who lives in the building, said the events were “a little foggy for me.” “I have health issues, so it takes a while to get going. It took me a while to put warm clothes on.” LeBlanc said he saw water on some floors, but none on his, so he went back to bed. At 4 a.m he was awakened by a firefighter in his bedroom. “I was quite startled by that. He told that you have to pack up,” he said. Red Cross found lodging, food for 60 people The 50-unit Belmar Plaza building at 460 Mountain Rd. is owned by Killam Properties, which was able to provide furnished apartments in some of its other Moncton properties for the tenants of five units. The Canadian Red Cross arranged for hotel lodging and food for 51 adults and nine children from 23 units. Five of the apartments in the building were vacant at the time of the fire. All other tenants made their own arrangements for temporary places to stay. Most residents were able to retrieve clothing and personal items before leaving. All residents were allowed back into their apartments on Wednesday, with the exception of those living in the unit where the fire happened. There were no injuries reported.
Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse Edmonton, AB, Canada – Sprinkler system helps keep fire from spreading when stored cooking oil ignites March 22, 2016 viking210 More than forty firefighters battled a fire that broke out late Sunday morning at a storage warehouse in northwest Edmonton. Fire crews were called to the commercial warehouse in an industrial area near 148 Street and 128 Avenue just before noon. “When they arrived, there was black smoke coming out of the building,” Edmonton Fire Rescue spokeswoman Holly Budd said. “They forced entry and the sprinkler system had been activated in the building.” Edmonton Fire Rescue Services district chief Marc Zubick said the portion of the building that was engulfed stored edible oils. “It’s cooking oil that was the cause of the smoke but the cause of the heat that created the smoke on that oil has not been determined yet,” said Zubick. Zubick said the fire suppression system in the warehouse did a good job keeping the fire from spreading. As a precaution, firefighters called for more fire trucks at around 12:10 p.m., and a second alarm was called around 10 minutes later. Forty five firefighters fought the remainder of the blaze for two hours. The cause is still unknown.
Residential, Townhouse / Condominium Kelowna, BC, Canada – Sprinklers help knock down flames in early morning townhouse fire March 21, 2016 viking210 An early morning structure fire in Kelowna has caused damage to at least one suite in a three storey townhouse. The Kelowna Fire Department received a call about the fire around 6:28 a.m. on Friday. When crews arrived on scene they spotted a fire on the roof of a townhouse on Ambrosi Road. Firefighters managed to knock the fire down quickly and the building sprinkler system helped to extinguish the flames. There were no reported injuries as a result of the fire but one suite was affected and an adjoining suite suffered water damage as well. Emergency Support Services is now assisting the residents with any support services they may require. The cause of the fire has not been released.
Apartment Building, Residential Halifax, NS, Canada – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported March 14, 2016 viking210 A third-floor apartment kitchen fire during noon hour left a building at 334 Parkland Dr. was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system. Four apparatuses and 12 firefighters responded to the blaze. The call came in at 12:54 p.m. last Wednesday, and firefighters were there shortly thereafter, Blackburn said. “The sprinkler system worked perfectly fine, but the water flow had ramifications on that floor as well as floors below,” Blackburn said. The sprinklers were shut down within about 10 minutes, he said. “You never want to turn (sprinkler systems) off too early. We wanted to make sure the fire had been extinguished prior to shutting any suppression systems down,” he said. The building was evacuated, but tenants were allowed to go back into apartments that weren’t affected by the fire, he said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The room of origin was the kitchen in Apt. 310, he said.
Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing Brantford, ON, Canada – Overnight foundry fire contained with help from sprinkler system March 13, 2016 viking210 Brantford Fire Department Platoon Chief Herb Van Der Made said at 1:25 a.m. firefighters from station 4 were called to the McLean Foundry at 247 Colborne St. W., where they could see smoke coming from the roof. A 911 call had come in from the foundry’s fire alarm company. Van Der Made said the fire appears to have started in the older section of the foundry, which was built in the 1930s. “We were met with a lot of heavy smoke going in, so we had to retreat,” he said. The firefighters found another way in, through a rear bay door, where they proceeded to extinguish “a really intense” fire over the following two hours. Holes were punched in the steel roof of the building’s younger section for ventilation, enabling aerial truck 9 to attack the fire from above. Van Der Made said a sprinkler system helped get the fire under control. Part of the building’s back roof fell due the fire damage. No one was working in the foundry overnight, and no one was hurt fighting the fire, according to Van Der Made. The business owners showed up and helped firefighters to access the building. Brantford police closed Colborne Street West from Shellard Lane to Lyndsay Street until at least 7 a.m.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Cambridge, ON, Canada – Fire at high school extinguished by sprinkler system March 7, 2016 viking210 Fire crews were called to Preston High School shortly after 1 p.m., after being notified of fire alarms going off inside the building. When they arrived, they found that the school had been evacuated. According to Cambridge Fire Department platoon Chief Brad Churchill, crews entered the building to find that its sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, but heavy smoke persisted in a corridor and stairwell at the back of the building. One staff member was taken to hospital, to be treated for symptoms of smoke inhalation. Firefighters spent much of the afternoon at the school, ventilating the building. After being allowed back in to pick up their belongings, students were sent home for the rest of the afternoon. Churchill said the evacuation went off “like clockwork” because the school regularly practiced fire drills. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Apartment Building, Residential Saskatoon, SK, Canada – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in extinguishing early morning apartment fire March 6, 2016 viking210 At around 1:40 a.m. CST, the Saskatoon Fire Department responded to a call of smoke coming from an apartment complex on the 1300 block of 20th Street W. A mattress had caught fire in the building and its occupants were forced outside. Ventilation fans were put in place to clear the smoke after firefighters were able to put out the fire with the help of an existing water sprinkler head. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this point.
Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Merritt, BC, Canada – Sprinklers help contain sawmill fire; Operations resume same day March 1, 2016 viking210 Merritt Fire Rescue responded to a fire at the Tolko sawmill around 1:30 Saturday afternoon. Fire Chief Dave Tompkinson says a hydraulic oil tank was on fire. “Prior to firefighters arriving, the sprinkler system had activated. The sawmill employees had actioned the fire with extinguishers and a hose line,” says Tompkinson. The fire was inside the the plant, and spread to some machinery above. Tomkinson says, as the fire department was leaving, the sawmill was already getting back up and running. The cause of the fire is unknown.
