Police and fire personnel responded to a fire about 6 a.m. Tuesday at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store at 1861 Roanoke Road. No one was injured in the blaze, which triggered the evacuation of the store’s employees. No customers were inside the building at the time, according to Chris Taylor, a public information officer for the LaGrange Fire Department.
LaGrange fire and police, along with the Troup County Sheriff’s deputies, responded to the scene. Initially, emergency dispatchers received calls that someone was possibly trapped in the room, but those reports turned out to be false, Taylor said. Taylor said the fire started in the back portion of the store in a utility area.
“There was a problem with the backup generator in the mechanical room,” he said. The fire was controlled by an automatic sprinkler system that activated, but firefighters still had to use hoses and water to extinguish secondary fires that also burned.
Officials with Georgia Power also responded to the scene, Taylor said. The LaGrange Fire Department is investigating the fire, but Taylor said no foul play is suspected and the preliminary cause of the blaze is expected to be either mechanical or electrical. Taylor expected a full report and information to be released by LFD this afternoon.
Taylor said the fire did not burn anywhere but the utility room. “We’re glad that the store wasn’t in regular operation when the fire occurred,” Taylor said. The Daily News attempted to call Piggly Wiggly several times this morning for comment, but its phone lines were busy.
Officials are investigating an apparent arson after an early morning fire broke out at a Terre Haute homeless shelter. The fire started just before 6 a.m. at the Conners Center on 13th Street. The center, also known as Gary’s Place, is a shelter for women and children.
Kristina Stuff recalls waking up to billowing smoke and several women in the building who were shouting fire. “I thought it was the moment. I was petrified.”
The building is made up of three floors, and three floors up Stuff and her elderly mother were trapped by the overwhelming smoke. Stuff tried to get out but was unable to carry her mother through the smoke. “It didn’t matter what kind of evacuation plan we had it was just too much,” said Stuff as she describes trying to escape.
In that moment stuff recalls feeling helpless, “So I took us back in, soaked down towels and put it on her face, and prayed to God.” It wasn’t long before relief arrived. With the help of the Terre Haute Fire Department all of the residents inside the building got out safely. Stuff and her mother were rescued and treated for smoke inhalation, while the others escaped without injury.
“We don’t like what the future holds for us, but we are alive,” said Stuff.
Terre Haute Fire Chief, Jeff Fischer tells News 10 the fire started in the basement next to the soda machine. It appeared the sprinkler system aided in putting out the flames, but the black smoke continued to cause extensive damage to the second and third floors. “So that means cleaning everything, and taking care of that, and trying to get the smell out,” explained Rev. Timothy Fagg, CEO of the Lighthouse Mission.
The fire is being investigated as arson. Fire officials found evidence of poured gasoline close to the soda machine. “Every dollar we get goes to take care of the homeless here in the Wabash Valley, and when’s there’s something like this it’s difficult for us,” said Rev. Fagg.
All 14 residents are displaced while clean-up takes place. “This is it. This is all we got. We don’t have anywhere else to go,” said Stuff. Rev. Fagg said the residents will be offered a bed at the Lighthouse Mission until repairs are made. The shelter is looking for volunteers to help with cleaning and painting.
The Terre Haute Police Department is spending the day interviewing those at the shelter. The investigation into who started the fire is still on-going.
Walking into The Lobster restaurant, past the full bar and into the dining area that overlooks the Santa Monica Pier, it’s almost impossible to notice the area where a fire in the kitchen spread to a booth early Saturday morning. A white sheet temporarily covered the area earlier this week, the only visible reminder of the incident.
The Lobster, a fresh seafood restaurant off Ocean Avenue next to the mouth of the Santa Monica Pier,reopened Monday after a two-day closure. The fire is believed to have sprouted from a kitchen stove and leaped the wall it shared with a booth on the other side, catching the booth afire and splintering its glass headboard mounted on the wall.
The fire lasted from 6:13 am to 6:33 am before the restaurant’s sprinkler system put out the short-lived flames. “We are still under investigation,” said Lynne Thomas, Marketing Director and Director of Community Events at The Lobster, “but as of now we believe that it was a heat fire that fortunately only sparked the booth.”
The restaurant’s cleaning crew was the first to notice the fire Saturday morning, immediately reporting it to the Santa Monica Fire Department, who shortly thereafter arrived on the scene,spraying a fire extinguisher that killed the dying embers. “We were very happy it wasn’t worse and very happy no one was hurt,” Thomas said.
Both the stove and the booth were removed earlier this week. The Fire Department is investigating how the fire started. The incident closed the Lobster for two days while they fixed up the damage and charred areas.
“We were closed Saturday and all day Sunday,” said Thomas.“We were pretty much working around the clock to try and get open again…and reopened Monday. “It was hard because so many people had reservations. It was graduation weekend and it was really sad for us not to be able to reopen. We were doing what we could to get open as soon as we could,” she said.
Authorities are crediting a fire sprinkler for preventing a Thursday morning blaze at OrePac in Wilsonville from causing major damage. Just before 6 a.m., firefighters with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue responded to reports of a fire in a paint room at the business at 30160 S.W. Orepac Way, according to a news release.
Initial reports indicated that the paint room contained a gas line, paint products, air guns and pressure tanks, all of which could pose potential hazards for firefighters and workers. Upon arriving on scene, firefighters found light smoke coming from the industrial building.
Thanks to a fire sprinkler in the paint room, along with employees using fire extinguishers, the fire was out when firefighters entered the paint room. A TVFR investigator determined that the fire resulted from the spontaneous combustion of improperly disposed rags that been used for staining. Due to the minimal damage caused by the blaze, no repairs will be necessary, according to the news release.
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
