Tag Archives: Canada

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Summerside, PE, Canada – Fire at elementary school extinguished by sprinkler system; Classes resume next day

Most classes at Elm Street Elementary School in Summerside, P.E.I., will resume on Tuesday after a small fire forced the cancellation of all classes on Monday. The fire started near a ventilation fan in the computer server room at about 4:30 p.m. local time Sunday.

Summerside fire Chief Jim Peters said the sprinkler system had put out the fire by the time firefighters arrived. “It was just a matter of us, the firefighters, shutting down the sprinkler system and clearing some smoke,” said Peters.

Shutting down the sprinklers, however, took about 30 minutes, said English Language School Board superintendent Cynthia Fleet. The water soaked through the floor and ran into classrooms below, including the kindergarten.

Because of the water damage, kindergarten will be cancelled again Tuesday. All other classes will go ahead Tuesday as usual. Kindergarten classes will resume Wednesday, with changes for one classroom.

“Tomorrow, we will have teachers with workers from the school board move furniture and materials back into two classrooms, and a third classroom will be relocated into the breakfast area,” Fleet said.

“So that is why the breakfast program will not be in operation for the remainder of the week.”

Communications at the school will be by telephone only until the computer system is restored.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Thunder Bay, ON, Canada – Fire at Bombardier plant controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries

Thunder Bay’s Bombardier plant was forced to evacuate its employees Wednesday afternoon, after a fire broke out inside the facility. The call came in at around 3 p.m.. Thunder Bay fire crews rushed to the plant on Montreal Street, after reports of a structural fire. As it turns out the fire was contained to a piece of equipment. The plant’s sprinkler system was activated and Bombardier staff apparently had the fire out before fire crews arrived.

Hundreds of employees were evacuated as a precautionary measure. There’s no word on how much damage was done to the equipment in the area where the fire started.

Other - Retail, Retail

London, ON, Canada – Official thanking sprinkler system following Goodwill Donation Centre blaze

A Goodwill Industries official is praising the sprinkler system after a fire broke out Wednesday morning at the Outlet & Donation Centre on White Oak Rd.

President and CEO of Goodwill Industries Michelle Quintyn tells AM980 when fire crews were called.

“At about 11 o’clock this morning, we had a small fire start in the back end of the building. Alarm went off, the one area of the sprinkler system went off, we evacuated the building, everyone got out safely,” she said. “We have had quite a bit of activity here today making sure that the fire is out, it’s a building full of textiles and all kinds of recyclable materials.”

A damage estimate and cause of the blaze could not be determined by the Fire Inspector on duty

Quintyn did, however, mention that the building was undergoing roof work

“The area that the fire occurred is more a warehousing area, it is not a production area. In that vicinity there was some roof work going on,” she said. “A sprinkler system is a good thing to have in a big building like this.”

Fire crews could also be seen inspecting tar machines near where the fire broke out.

Quintyn added that there were well over 200 people in the building at the time, many of them employees and some customers. No injuries have been reported.

 

 

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada – Sprinkler system activates in overnight fire at manufacturing plant

Ontario Fire Marshal is investigating a blaze at Arauco North America. Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services was called to the Base Line site, formerly Flakeboard, at about 11:50 p.m. on Sunday.

A sprinkler system was activated. Arauco workers were fighting a fire in a press machine and dust collection system, said platoon chief Stan Martynuck. Firefighters took over.

Spot fires followed in the early morning Monday. The fire was under control by 8 a.m., said Martynuck. The fire department was on scene until 5 p.m.

One firefighter received minor injuries. He was not taken to Sault Area Hospital.

Cause of the blaze is under investigation by fire prevention officer Carlo Provenzano and OFM investigators. Heavy damage prompted OFM participation, said Martynuck.

Apartment Building, Residential

Vancouver, BC, Canada – No injuries in early morning apartment blaze after sprinklers successfully activate

More than 40 residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside were displaced from their homes Saturday after an early morning apartment fire.

Capt. Jonathan Gormick, a spokesman for Vancouver Fire and Rescue, said staff with emergency social services were working with the residents to find them accommodation until they can return to their apartments, likely next week.

The fire broke out in the attic of the apartment complex on East Cordova Street at around 5 a.m. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames on the roof. Gormick said the building’s sprinkler system was activated and all the residents escaped unharmed.

Firefighters put out the fire before it damaged any of the suites, however he said many of them sustained water damage from the sprinklers. The cause of the blaze is unknown and firefighters continue to investigate.

 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Halifax, NS, Canada – No one injured after sprinklers activate in fire on seventh floor of mental hospital

The Nova Scotia Health Authority says it could take weeks to rebuild two floors damaged after a small fire at the Abbie J. Lane building of the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

The fire started at around 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday in a patient’s room, said Everton McLean, a spokesperson for the health authority. 

The fire was contained and no one was injured, but it triggered the sprinkler system and the water damaged all units on the sixth and seventh floors. Patients needing mental health care are treated on those floors. 

McLean says it will take a while to repair the rooms. 

“In those situations where we get water into the drywall, it causes issues because you have to replace drywall,” he said Thursday.

“It depends on the level of damage when maintenance crews find when we get in there, but right now we’re thinking it’s going to be several weeks.”

Most of the patients were given temporary accommodations at the Abbie J. Lane building on Wednesday night. Others were relocated to other sites at the Nova Scotia Hospital on Thursday morning.

Their families were notified, the health authority said, adding that new patients may be admitted outside the immediate area because of reduced bed availability at the Abbie J. Lane building.

The health authority says it is working to maintain services for new and existing patients.

Meanwhile, McLean says an investigation is underway to determine how the fire started. 

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Montreal, QC, Canada – Arson fire at restaurant extinguished by sprinkler system

The Queue de Cheval steakhouse was the scene of an arson attack Wednesday morning.  Shortly after 4:00 a.m. someone tossed what is believed to be a Molotov cocktail into the entryway, smashing through a front door window.

Firefighters said the sprinkler system quickly took care of the fire. Most of the damage was caused by water.  The Montreal police arson squad has taken over the investigation. The street remained open to traffic throughout the morning.

The Queue de Cheval is located at 1181 de la Montagne St. near René-Lévesque Blvd.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Charlottetown, PE, Canada – Sprinkler system contains storage fire at building supplies business

A fire at the Kent Buildings Supplies in Charlottetown last night was the result of halogen bulbs overheating from the emergency lighting, said Charlottetown fire inspector Winston Bryan after the investigation was concluded this morning.

The Charlottetown Fire Department responded to the call at 10:50 p.m. yesterday to the building on 65 Marsh Rd.  Pallets of inventory and cardboard were ignited from the emergency lighting, which was powered by halogen bulbs.

The halogen bulbs produced enough heat to cause ignition of a box, which then spread to other boxes on the shelving unit.

The fire was contained in the warehouse area and shelving units, said Bryan.  What contained the fire was the sprinkler system, said Bryan.

All clear was given at around 2 a.m. today with no injuries sustained Though this doesn’t happen often, it tends to happen more so in warehouses with the stacking of goods up against lights.

“Over time they will ignite,” said Bryan.

It boils down to training within the businesses to install lighting at proper heights.  “Take it into consideration what you are actually storing in your warehouse… should be designed around that.”

“The sprinkler system basically contained the fire to one particular area of the building,” he said. “So having your sprinkler system maintained and inspected on a year to year base, as per code, assisted in the suppression of the fire.”

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Guelph, ON, Canada – Fire at Staybridge Suites hotel suppressed by sprinkler system

Guelph firefighters say well trained staff and working sprinklers saved a fire from getting out of control in a Guelph hotel room.

Officials say the fire was sparked by materials left near a hot plate at the Staybridge Suites off Highway Six. A father was staying in the first floor room with his children. They returned to the room on Saturday to find it full of smoke.

“The sprinkler system actually did what it was supposed to. It was fully functioning and it actually saved that room and probably saved a huge part of that building as a result of that,” said Tony Sabatini, chief fire prevention officer with the city of Guelph.

Part of the hotel needed to be evacuated.  Damage is estimated at around $35,000.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Sprinklers hold fire in check at packaging manufacturer

City firefighters responded to the fire at around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday at CKF Inc. on Production Way, said City Fire Chief Rory Thompson.  In total, eight engines, several other vehicles, and 52 firefighters were deployed to deal with the fire. The actual fire didn’t do too much damage to the building. “We were fortunate because the sprinkler system really held the fire in check for us,” said Thompson.

“There was a considerable amount of smoke,” he said of the fire near Fraser Highway. The fire was in the back of the large industrial building, and the complexity and size of the fire quickly led the City to go to three alarms. That brought in some Township crews to lend a hand. 

However, the building was full of pallets of thousands of cardboard egg cartons. The fire had gotten into the cartons and the pallets. Between the fire and the water, the cartons were destroyed, and the pallets collapsed, leaving piles of debris five to six feet high.

Firefighters had to fight their way through the mess to lay hose lines and get at the last remnants of the fire. Two firefighters were hospitalized, with a City firefighter falling and injuring his shoulder, and a Township firefighter who hurt his knee.

Firefighters brought a lot of bottled water for crews and had to work in shifts, taking breaks to hydrate after fighting the fire on a day when temperatures hit the high 20s. “Pretty tired, that’s for sure,” Thompson said of how the crews felt after the fire was out.

Fire crews didn’t leave the scene until 4 a.m. on Friday. Investigators were looking through the scene Friday to try to determine the cause. City firefighters have had training with what are called “large box” fires, and they recently did a command and control training exercise in concert with the Langley Township firefighters. Township and City firefighters frequently work together on larger fires or cover for one another when crews are very busy.