Tag Archives: Connecticut

Other Business, Place of Worship

Hartford, CT – Sprinkler system keeps fire in check at commercial building; No injuries reported

Several tenants are assessing damage on Sunday after a fire at a commercial building that housed a church in Hartford on Saturday night.

Firefighters say flames sparked around 10 p.m. on 806 Windsor Street in the Capitol City.

Officials are saying the sprinkler system helped to keep the fire in check.

According to the Hartford Courant, there were no injuries reported.

It is not clear what started the fire or how much damage the building sustained.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Hamden, CT – Sprinkler system holds fire in check at senior apartment complex

More than 40 elderly residents were evacuated during a fire early Friday morning at the Davenport Resident on Putnam Avenue, an eight-story building with 217 apartments that houses mostly senior citizens.

Firefighters responded to the apartment complex, located at 125 Putnam Avenue, at 6:46 a.m. after receiving 911 calls and a report from the fire-alarm company that services the property, according to Deputy Chief Gary Merwede.

The first-arriving crews found multiple elderly residents were in the process of evacuating the building and required assistance. The fire was determined to be in a third-floor apartment, according to Merwede.

Merwede said that several residents were physically carried from stairwells by firefighters.Incident Commander Ronald Desroches called for a second alarm and all remaining Hamden Fire companies were dispatched to the scene and the fire was under control at approximately 7:25 a.m., according to Merwede.

“American Medical Response was asked to set-up a triage center in the adjoining 135 Putnam Dunbar Residence,” Merwede said in a press release. “AMR paramedics triaged more than 40 elderly residents, with one elderly female patient requiring transport for exposure to smoke and cold temperatures. The Hamden CERT Team was activated and assisted with displaced residents during operations. Several disabled residents were protected in place in apartments or designated areas of refuge by firefighters above the fire floor.

“The fire was contained to the room of origin. Companies worked to ventilate smoke, carbon monoxide and the other products of combustion on floors 3 – 8. The ventilation operation took more than an hour following suppression. After firefighters metered for a safe atmosphere, residents were escorted back to their apartments by Hamden CERT.”

Merwede said the building’s sprinkler system held the fire in check and allowed firefighters to stop the fire from spreading to additional floors and apartments.

“The fire-alarm system performed according to design and alerted the occupant of the fire apartment and all building residents of the emergency,” Merwede said. “Due to these fire protection systems, the resident in 313 and others on the fire floor were able to make it to the stairwell and either self-evacuate or await assistance from firefighters.”

Deputy Fire Marshal Tim Lunn determined that the fire was most likely caused by an overheated extension cord.

The management of the Davenport Residence is relocating any resident displaced by this emergency due to fire, water or smoke damage to vacant apartments elsewhere in the complex, according to Merwede.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Montville, CT – Overnight fire at packaging manufacturer limited by sprinkler system

An overnight fire at Rand-Whitney Containerboard caused minimal damage and no injuries despite extreme cold, according to Fire Marshal Ray Occhialini.  Occhialini said firefighters were called to the 370 Route 163 company about 1 a.m. after a machine that rolls and cuts the company’s cardboard liner paper malfunctioned, causing the paper to tangle and catch fire.

Occhialini said sprinklers in the building, which he described as the complex’s newer, paper machine building, held the fire “in check” until crews arrived to put it out completely.  He estimated firefighters spent about two hours working inside the building and then another hour or so cleaning up ice-laden equipment and spreading ice melt around the area.

“It was a cold night,” Occhialini said.  No firefighters or employees were injured. Rand-Whitney already has arranged for a company to replace sprinkler heads and has begun replacing electrical components damaged by flames or water, Occhialini said.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Milford, CT – No injuries in senior housing complex fire; Fire caused by unattended cooking

Four tenants of a housing complex in Milford have been displaced after a fire on Friday night.  Milford Fire Department says they received notification of an active fire alarm at 75 Demaio Drive around 7:30 p.m. Firefighters responded to the city-owned elderly housing complex and were notified of a working fire on the fourth floor of the structure.

The sprinkler system in the buildings had activated due to a cooking fire in a unit on the fourth floor. The sprinkler system extinguished the fire.  The tenant stated that the fire started when he stepped away from the kitchen area. He said he left the stove unattended.

There were no injuries reported from the fire.  Four tenants were displaced by the fire and will be relocated to an unaffected area of the complex. Milford housing and sprinkler crews were on the scene to begin fixing the damage.

Apartment Building, Residential

New Haven, CT – Fire in basement of apartment building knocked down by sprinkler system

City firefighters quickly knocked down a basement fire Wednesday afternoon at the Bella Vista Apartments in eastern New Haven. Crews arrived at Building E of the complex to find a minor fire in the basement there at about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, Battalion Chief William Gould said at the scene.  Much of the fire had been knocked down by the building’s sprinkler system by the time firefighters arrived but they called in a full assignment of trucks because of the number of people who live in the building.   “The fire extended somewhat in the (chute) but not up to upper floors so they were able to extinguish it in the area of origin,” Gould said.  Firefighters were able to put out the rest of the fire within minutes.   No one was hurt in the fire, Gould confirmed.   “The sprinklers do their jobs, they save lives, keeping the fire in check,” he said.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

New Haven, CT – Electrical fire at Marriott near Yale University knocked down by sprinkler system

New Haven Fire Department is on the scene of a fire at the Marriott on Whalley Ave. New Haven Fire Department sent out tweets around 2:00 p.m. Saturday saying there was a reported fire at the Courtyard New Haven at Yale on the 5th floor.  According to officials, the fire was an electrical fire with heavy smoke.  They say it was knocked down by a sprinkler and contained quickly.  New Haven Fire Officials are on the scene conducting an investigation.  Officials at the hotel say there was a brief evacuation, but guests are being allowed back into the hotel.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Ridgefield, CT – Kitchen fire at senior living facility extinguished with help from sprinkler system

The Ridgefield Fire Department responded to a chair fire at Ridgefield Crossings around 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4. Fire Chief Kevin Tappe said that an elderly woman who lives in the facility was heating a towel in the microwave and it ignited. “The woman grabbed the towel out of the microwave and then tossed it across the room,” Chief Tappe said. “It landed by a chair with clothing on it and started the chair and clothes on fire.”

The facility’s manager used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and the building’s sprinkler system finished the job, Tappe said. According to the chief, there was very little fire damage and some smoke and water damage. Chief Tappe said that the fire alarms and sprinkler system worked properly. Fire officials opened the windows and used fans to clear the smoke from the building, Tappe said. No one was injured.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Shelton, CT – Kitchen fire at rehab facility extinguished by sprinkler system

On Nov. 27 at 4:01 p.m. the Echo Hose Co. #1, Huntington Co. #3 and White Hills Co. #5 responded to a fire alarm sounding at the Shelton Lakes Convalescent rehab Center at #5 lake Road. Upon arrival firefighters were made aware of a fire that had occurred in the kitchen of the facility. The fire started when a pan of liquid ignited on a stove top. The fire activated several fire sprinkler heads which extinguished the fire but caused water damage to the kitchen area. Firefighters remained on the scene to check for any fire extension and assistance facility employees. Two engines, one rescue truck and one ladder truck responded.

Apartment Building, Residential

Stamford, CT – Fire started by unattended space heater contained by sprinkler system

A fire caused by an unattended space heater in a Pequot Drive apartment early Friday afternoon was mostly contained by an overhead sprinkler system.

The sprinkler system brought the fire completely under control by the time firefighters arrived at the Southwood Square Apartments about 2 p.m. Friday, fire Capt. Paul Newman said.

Newman said no one was in the apartment at the time and there were no reported injuries. Newman said because of the sprinkler system, most of the damage was contained to the bedroom with smoke damage to a hallway.

Chief Fire Marshall Charles Spaulding said just before the fire was reported, a man using a space heater in the apartment went to the grocery store.

While he was gone, the space heater caught an adjacent chair on fire, Spaulding said.

The man has declined help from the American Red Cross and Spaulding said he could be back into his apartment as early as Monday.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

New London, CT – Evening fire at elementary school confined to one classroom by sprinkler system

A fire at the Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School has been knocked down, according to New London Fire Chief Henry Kydd Jr. The fire, which began about 9 p.m. Friday evening, caused the sprinkler system to go off and was confined to one classroom, the chief said. There were no injuries reported.

Two custodians, who heard the fire alarm go off and evacuated, said they were the only people in the school at the time. Superintendent Manuel J. Rivera, at the scene, said school officials will need to assess the scene when firefighters finish their work to see how it will impact operations. However, with the long weekend, he said they are optimistic that building staff will be able to get the school in shape for the return of students on Tuesday. No further information was available.