Tag Archives: Early AM (5am-7am)

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory

Manhattan, KS – Dormitory fire at Kansas State University extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire at a Kansas State dormitory displaced about two dozen students. University officials say the fire early Friday started on the fourth floor of Wefald Hall. All students were evacuated for about three hours. No injuries were reported. Sprinklers extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived.

Manhattan officials say the fire apparently was caused by a faulty fan. University officials say the fire caused $5,000 of damage to the building and $3,500 of damage to contents. The coeducational dorm houses 540 students. It was built in 2016 on the west side of the Manhattan campus.

UPDATE: Students were allowed to return to their rooms after an early morning fire at Wefald Hall on the K-State Manhattan campus. The fire was first reported at 6:26 a.m. on the fourth floor of the Wefald residence hall, according to K-State Police.

MANHATTAN — No injuries were reported in a Friday morning fire at Wefald Hall on Kansas State University’s Manhattan campus. The fire was extinguished by the hall’s suppression system, according to the K-State Police Department. Students were evacuated from the hall and relocated to Kramer Dining Center. Denison Avenue between Claflin Avenue and Platt Street is closed for emergency vehicles.

Hotel / Motel

Fort St. John, BC, Canada – Laundry fire at Super 8 Hotel put out by sprinkler system

Firefighters in Fort St. John were called out to a small laundry room fire at the Super 8 Hotel.  Fire Chief Fred Burrows said that crews were called out to the hotel in the 9500 block of Alaska Road North at approximately 6:30 in the morning. Burrows said that a small fire had broken out in the hotel’s laundry room and that the small fire was extinguished by the hotel’s sprinkler system by the time firefighters arrived.  Burrows said the hotel’s occupants were evacuated to the hotel’s lobby when the fire alarm sounded and were given the all-clear to return to their rooms once crews ensured that the fire was put out. The hotel’s General Manager Lourdes Samodio said that the incident lasted only roughly five minutes and that no one was hurt in the incident. She declined to comment further on the matter.  Burrows said that the laundry itself sustained minor damage and that apart from the appliances and cleaning supplies stored in the room, the rest of the hotel was unscathed. According to Burrows, the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but that the fire at this point is not deemed suspicious.

Apartment Building, Residential

Everett, WA – Sprinkler system knocks down early morning apartment fire

Sprinklers and alarms did their job this morning after a fire broke out inside a unit at the NorthStar Apartments in the 3300 block of Lombard in Everett, Washington.  Shortly before 6 AM fire alarms were sounding and as the first Everett Fire engine arrived people were evacuating and reporting smoke and sprinkler activation on the first floor.  One person was removed from a ground floor unit by firefighters. He was taken by aid car to Providence Regional Medical Center to be checked as a precaution.  The sprinklers knocked down the fire and crews finished putting it out.  The fire was contained to the one unit.  An Everett Fire inspector is on scene now looking into the cause.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lawrence, KS – Early morning apartment fire suppressed by sprinkler system

One person was rescued from an apartment that caught fire early Saturday in downtown Lawrence, authorities said. The blaze was reported at 5:16 a.m. Saturday at 800 New Hampshire Street. The first firefighter arrived on the scene at 5:18 a.m. and reported nothing was showing from the five-story apartment building, said Division Chief Justin Temple, of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

Crews then located a fire in Apartment 302 of the building. Fire crews located, then rescued, a resident from the apartment. Temple said the building’s fire alarm system activated and alerted all residents. He added that the fire sprinkler system in apartment 302 activated and helped control the fire until crews could extinguish the blaze, which was declared under control by 5:49 a.m. Other residents of the building were displaced and were assisted in a temporary move to 888 New Hampshire by representatives of First Management. All displaced residents were later allowed to return to their apartments.

Temple said the resident from apartment 302 was treated at the scene, then taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. The person’s name and condition weren’t immediately available. No other injuries were reported. Fire department investigators were called to the scene to determine the fire’s cause. An estimated dollar loss wasn’t immediately available.

Other Business

Garden City, ID – Early morning fire at commercial laundry business contained by sprinkler system

The Boise Fire Department responded to a fire at at a commercial laundry facility in Garden City last Wednesday morning at 5:30 a.m. on the 5200 block of North Sawyer Avenue. The fire department says the business is still in service thanks to a fire sprinkler system in the facility, which limited the spread of the fire and kept it in the area the fire started. The fire was under control in about 30 minutes. The cause of the fire was ruled an accident, according to the fire department.  Two firefighters were injured while responding to a fire.  One firefighter suffered an ankle injury and the other suffered a back injury.

Fire / Police Station, Government/Military

Batesville, IN – Emergency vehicle fire at at fire station controlled with help from sprinkler system

A Batesville Fire Department ambulance was heavily damaged and four people were injured by a fire early Friday morning at the fire station.  Just after midnight the emergency vehicle caught fire in the garage bay, causing the sprinkler system to activate. Firefighters quickly pulled the ambulance out of the building and the blaze was quickly extinguished.  There was slight damage to the door and soot that will require clean up. Four fire department workers were treated and released for smoke inhalation. No damage estimate is available for the ambulance. The cause is under investigation.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Rockland Key, FL – Early morning fire at waste management facility controlled by sprinkler system

Monroe County Fire Rescue responded at 3:17 a.m. Thursday to a fire inside the City of Key West’s transfer station at 125 Toppino Industrial Drive on Rockland Key. The fire was put out just after 5 a.m. with no injuries. Here’s what happened: Crews from Stock Island, Cudjoe Key and Big Coppitt Key arrived to find heavy smoke inside the building that made it impossible to enter immediately. After using fans to push some of the smoke out of the building, crews were able to go inside and assess that the fire was in the middle of a large household trash pile.

At the transfer station, waste is separated into household trash, recycling and yard waste. “It was an exothermic reaction that caused the fire,” said Monroe County’s Deputy Fire Marshall Craig Marston, who is investigating the incident. “Chemicals mixed with the regular trash.”

An automated sprinkler system operated to keep the fire from spreading, Marston said. Crews used a large front-end loader to separate the household trash that was not burning from the fire that was deep inside the large building. Then firefighters were able to extinguished the smoldering flames.

Officials from Waste Management were on scene to help limit the damage. At the time of the fire, there were six bulk haulers in line to haul out debris to the mainland and another eight route trucks in line to bring trash to the transfer station. The fire caused only a three-hour delay in the process. Marston said this fire is a good reminder to residents on why it is important to separate household chemicals from your regular trash.

Other - School / University, School / University

San Antonio, TX – Fire at school bus garage put out with help from sprinkler system

An early morning fire damaged a Northeast ISD bus barn on Monday.  The fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. and at one point, 25 fire units were called out to the location at the NEISD North Transportation Terminal.  Fire crews say the fire started in a desk drawer within a building at the terminal. The fire was put out quickly with the help of the building’s sprinkler system. No one was injured in the fire.  Fire officials say the fire did about $5,000 worth of damage.  None of the buses were damaged in the fire and routes were expected to proceed as normal Monday morning.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

West Fargo, ND (No Media Coverage) – Early morning fire at kindergarten center extinguished by sprinkler system

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE — READER REPORTED ***

A blog reader reported this sprinkler save from the Lodoen Kindergarten Center. The following message was sent from the school:

“At approximately 6:00 AM this morning, the West Fargo Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at our school. The alarm went off due to a small fire on the stove in the staff lounge. The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system by the time the Fire Department arrived, but they did check our facility to ensure there were no further issues and that we could have school as normal. None of our classrooms were impacted, and students had a normal day today.”

Restaurant

Waterloo, ON, Canada – Suspicious early morning fire at restaurant controlled by sprinkler system

The Ontario Fire Marshall has deemed a fire in a Waterloo restaurant suspicious. Firefighters were called to a restaurant on King Street North, south of University Avenue just before dawn Friday morning. Fire officials say a sprinkler was able to mostly keep the fire under control before firefighters arrived at the scene. No injuries were reported.