Tag Archives: Evening (6pm-9pm)

Residential, Residential High Rise

Schaumburg, IL – (no media coverage) Kitchen fire in residential high-rise building extinguished by sprinkler system

** Fire Department Reported – No Media Coverage ** Around 6:30 pm on March 4, the Schaumburg Fire Department responded to 1427 Valley Lake Drive for a general fire alarm. Fire companies found a small fire in the kitchen that was extinguished by a single sprinkler. The fire department was able to isolate the sprinkler system on the floor and limit fire damage to approximately $6,000. The cause of the fire was cooking. 1427 Valley Lake is a residential high-rise occupancy that was required to install fire sprinklers as part of Schaumburg’s high-rise retrofit ordinance.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Tucson, AZ – Sprinkler system activates to help keep fire at supermarket from growing

A midtown Safeway was open again Monday after a fire broke out late Friday, March 1. The store in the 1900 block of East Broadway was partially open, according to a customer service representative. The employee said they don’t have hot water yet as they are waiting for their gas to be turned back on. The grocery and produce sections are open, as is the pharmacy.

Barrett Baker, spokesman for the Tucson Fire Department, said they were called out to the fire around 8 p.m. Friday and had it under control by 8:30 p.m. Baker said the sprinkler system worked, which also kept the fire from growing.

As of 10 a.m., the deli, meat market, bakery and Starbucks were still closed. Everything was expected to be open again by noon. The store is popular hub for Wildcats, due to its proximity to the University of Arizona. Baker said no one was injured inside the store, which is near Broadway and Kino Parkway.

“Initial reports were that an employee noticed the fire and another employee tried to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher,” Baker said. “This slowed the growth of the fire dramatically.” Baker said the sprinkler system worked, which also kept the fire from growing. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but a Safeway worker said it began when a bag of potato chips went up in flames. Inspectors were at the store Saturday to clean up and check food for smoke damage.

Other - Retail, Retail

Farmers Branch, TX – (no media coverage) – Sprinkler system activated for structure fire at auto repair shop

*** No Media Coverage – Fire Department Reported *** Occupancy is an auto repair shop.  Fire occurred at 7:37 pm on 2/19/2019.  Quint 133 was dispatched for an automatic fire alarm at the location.  Upon arrival, Quint 133 entered the facility, which was closed for the day, and observed light smoke.  Quint 133 Captain upgraded to a structure fire while they investigated.  Quint 133 crew heard the sound of a sprinkler head activation.  Upon further investigation, they observed a burned tool cart adjacent to a brand new F250 Ford Truck on a lift.  One sprinkler head activated above the tool cart.  Sprinkler system was shut off and an Investigator was requested.  Investigator examined the 2’x 3’ burned tool cart with a variety of tools and a damaged curb guard on the F250 Ford Truck.  No electricity was supplied to the cart.  The only source of ignition was energized lithium batteries for tools.  The  cause of the fire was accidental.  Total content loss was estimated at $800.  No structural damage.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rockford, IL – Sprinkler system contained fire at apartment complex until fire crews arrived

Rockford firefighters were called to the Faust Landmark Apartments, 630 East State Street, around 8 p.m. Friday night.  A fire was located on the 9th floor of the building.  A building sprinkler system helped contain the fire until firefighters arrived.  

An adult male resident was helped out of the apartment by a Metro Enforcement officer that was working on site.  He was taken to a local hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.  No firefighters were hurt.

The Red Cross helped two adults relocate. The fire remains under investigation. 

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

Palo Alto, CA – Sprinkler system activated in fire at Stanford residential building

Note: On January 19, 2000, a fire in a dormitory at Seton Hall University tragically took the lives of three students and injured many more. The residence hall did not have a sprinkler system.

At around 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night, some residents of Studio 1 at the Escondido Village residential complex were evacuated after a cooking fire contained to one apartment set off a sprinkler. A Studio 1 resident said that she and a group of other residents were not permitted to re-enter their complex for one hour and 20 minutes, and stayed at the nearby Community Graduate Center instead. At approximately 8:20 p.m., the alarms stopped ringing and students and visitors began to re-enter the complex, the resident said. The Palo Alto Fire Department had no additional information to offer as of Monday evening.

Department Store, Retail

Paso Robles, CA – Sprinkler system held fire in check at Lowe’s Home Improvement until fire crews arrived

A fire started inside the Lowe’s Home Improvement in Paso Robles on Saturday night.

According to Paso Fire Battalion Chief  Scott Hallett, a fire started in the rear of the building, in the receiving and storage area of the store around 8:30 p.m.

Multiple resources responded alongside Paso Robles Fire including CAL FIRE and Atascadero Fire Department.

The fire was “held in check” by the sprinkler prior to the arrival of firefighters, Hallet said.

Crews worked about three hours, working on smoke evacuation and water removal. Hallet reported the fire caused minor damage to merchandise and damage to storage.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Taking the damage into account, Lowe’s Home Improvement is likely to reopen on Sunday, Hallett said.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Santa Monica, CA – Sprinkler system keeps high rise building fire from spreading

A Santa Monica high rise by the beach caught fire last Monday night before Santa Monica and Los Angeles firefighters put out the blaze, according to the Santa Monia Fire Department (SMFD).

On Monday, February 11, at 7:15 p.m. SMFD Engine 2 responded to the Shores Apartments at 2800 Neilson Way to investigate a fire alarm activation. Upon their arrival firefighters discovered smoke billowing from an apartment balcony on the 10th floor of the 17-story high rise building. Additional resources were immediately requested, bringing in all SMFD resources as well as aid from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).

Firefighters worked to extinguish the flames, which were kept from spreading to the common hallway of the building thanks to an activated fire sprinkler head, according to the SMFD.

“A challenging component to this high-rise fire incident was keeping the dozens of impacted residents safe and out of harm’s way. Firefighters used a combination of sheltering occupants in place until the fire was brought under control, as well as systematically evacuating those who could be, safely out of the building,” SMFD Captain and Public Information Officer Patrick Nulty said in a press release. “Thanks to a functioning fire alarm and fire sprinkler system, residents were alerted to begin evacuating immediately and the fire was kept from spreading.”

According to the department, it took 33 firefighters approximately 19 minutes to suppress the flames, which were confined to the kitchen and living room area. There was extensive water damage to several units below the fire from the fire sprinkler. No injuries to residents or first responders were reported. The resident of the apartment where the fire occurred was not home at the time of the fire, and was displaced as a result of the damage. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Waterloo, IA – Apartment fire put out by sprinkler system while woman and infant were asleep in bedroom

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An automatic alarm that alerted firefighters to an apartment fire likely saved the lives of a Waterloo woman and her infant child, according to fire officials. Waterloo Fire Rescue was called to 3855 Pineview Place in Waterloo on Thursday evening for an automatic alarm going off. They found a woman and baby asleep in the bedroom of the apartment when they arrived. Fire crews also found a stove-top fire had been put out by the apartment’s kitchen sprinkler, which activated and extinguished the fire before it could spread, according to Waterloo Fire Marshal Chris Ferguson. The woman and baby were treated for unspecified injuries. The cause of the fire was a burner that had accidentally been left on, according to Ferguson.

Apartment Building, Residential

Cheney, WA – Sprinkler system prevents apartment fire from spreading

A fire in a Cheney apartment building prompted an evacuation, but was contained to a single apartment Monday night thanks to a sprinkler head. Last Monday around 8:23 p.m., Cheney firefighters responded to the fire at the Eagle Point Apartments, discovering upon arrival that a single automatic fire sprinkler head in a kitchen had activated. The building was evacuated, but the sprinkler prevented the fire from spreading throughout the apartment. All occupants of the building were allowed to return, besides the occupants of the affected apartment. Fire crews determined the fire started on the stove in the apartment while an occupant was cooking.

Other - Retail, Retail

Mission, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire at tire store

Wednesday night’s fire inside the Mission Canadian Tire store is now considered to be suspicious.

According to a press release, the Mission RCMP have opened an active investigation.

Police are seeking any witnesses to the fire and asking them to come forward.

The release asks that if anyone was in the area of Canadian Tire, on London Ave., between 6-7 p.m. during the time of the fire and has dash cam footage, they should forward it to the Mission RCMP Detachment.

Anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious in the area during the time of the fire are also urged to come forward with information.

The fire broke out inside the Canadian Tire store at about 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 30.

Mission Fire Rescue Service was called and quickly responded.

“Crews, when they arrived on scene, found smoke right to the floor, inside the structure,” said Mission fire chief Dale Unrau.

Firefighters located the blaze “within the racking.” It has been “mostly put out” by the in-building sprinkler system, explained Unrau.

“Firefighters completed extinguishing the fire and at this point in time are just ventilating the structure,” Unrau said on Wednesday night.

There were no injuries to report as staff and customers exited the store safely. No firefighters were injured during the blaze.

Unrau said there is no damage to the structure itself but the clean up will take time.

“The sprinkler system did a great job and extinguished the fire, but there’s lots of water throughout the store and smoke throughout the store as well, so I’m sure the building will be out of service for an extended period of time.”

Several hours later, at about 2 a.m. Thursday morning, firefighters were called out to the store again as a second fire began to burn.

“We’re not quite sure why we had another fire break out in there, but when we left after the first one, our fire investigators had already completed their investigation in the initial fire area and our crews that were ventilating the structure had gone through and done a final check with a thermal camera and everything was cold,” said Unrau.

He called it a mystery and noted that the Mission RCMP were on scene throughout the night, watching the structure until the morning when the police investigation team arrived.

Unrau said the fire is “definitely suspicious.”

“I have a big team of investigators digging through the rubble as we speak.”