Tag Archives: Evening (6pm-9pm)

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Elkin, NC – Hospital fire caused by portable fan contained by fire suppression system

Many times when firefighters respond to fire alarm calls, they turn out to be false alarms, but that wasn’t the case Monday night as Elkin fire officials arrived on the scene of such a call at Hugh
Chatham Memorial Hospital. One needs no further evidence in recognizing the effectiveness of fire protection systems than what
Elkin firefighters found upon responding to the fire alarm activation at the hospital Monday.  Responders and hospital employees learned that the fixed extinguishing system in the hospital’s server room had extinguished a fire caused by the failure of a portable electric fan.

The Elkin Fire Department was dispatched to the hospital at about 6:02 p.m., with the first fire engine arriving seven minutes thereafter. Firefighters and hospital staff quickly realized the fire alarm was not a false report, and upon investigating found the remnants of the now-melted fan in the otherwise
unaffected facility.

“The hospital can be thankful that their fire alarm and suppression systems worked exactly as intended, prohibiting further damage and ensuring the safety of both staff and occupants,” noted Elkin
Fire Chief Mike Morton. Fire and building codes require that these systems are designed to meet the specific needs of the building and its contents, and periodic maintenance and inspection of these important safety systems also is required to keep them ready in case the worst should occur, according to fire officials.

Morton also pointed out the dangers of specialized fire extinguishing systems are often significant as well. “Rooms like the one where this fire occurred are protected not with typical sprinkler systems that utilize water, but rather with extinguishing agents that displace the oxygen inside the room, smothering the fire,” the fire chief explained. It was thus important for firefighters and hospital staff to work together in returning a sufficient supply of oxygen to the affected area so it would be safe to occupy once more. Firefighters from Arlington Fire and Rescue also assisted in response to the incident as part of the mutual aid agreement between the two organizations.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Wheaton, IL – Sprinkler system contains fire at public works garage; No injuries reported

No injuries were reported in a small fire Monday night at the Wheaton public works facility that apparently started in the bed of a pickup truck inside the fleet maintenance garage. Firefighters responded at 7 p.m. to the facility at 821 W. Liberty St. and found the fire had been brought under control within minutes by the building’s sprinkler system.

Firefighters spent about 30 minutes at the scene clearing smoke and extinguishing some minor smoldering material. The cause of the fire is undetermined but does not appear to be suspicious. Damage estimates were not immediately available.  The building was turned back over to public works officials after the fire and the building was open for business on Tuesday.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Louisville, KY – Fire at middle school put out by sprinkler system; Fire started in tablet charging station

The de Paul School students have a longer weekend thanks to an overnight fire.  The fire broke out around 7:00 PM Sunday night on a cart that charges tablets.   According to Tony Kemper, head of school, no one was on campus during the fire and only the cart was damaged.   The school’s sprinkler system put out the fire, but water from the sprinklers seeped from the third to first floor.

Class was canceled Monday as a restoration company helped with water cleanup. “There’s no structural damage, just a bit of restoration work they need to get done,” said Kemper.

The de Paul School will be closed Tuesday as cleanup continues. Students should return to class Wednesday.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Mississauga, ON, Canada – Restaurant fire kept in check by sprinkler system; No injuries

Mississauga Fire is at a scene of a restaurant fire on Shepherd Avenue in the Cooksville area.
Emergency crews responded to a call at approximately 6:11 p.m. for a fire that originated in the kitchen of a restaurant in the area.
The sprinkler systems had been activated and the fire was extinguished by the time the firefighters arrived.
There are no injuries reported.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Tallahassee, FL – Fire at Florida State dormitory kept in check by sprinkler system

A Wednesday evening trash compactor fire filled Florida State’s Salley Hall dormitory with smoke, forcing residents to evacuate.

At 6:19 p.m., Tallahassee Fire Department crews were called to the residence hall located on West Call Street near Chieftan Way.

An automatic sprinkler system kept the fire under control. When firefighters arrived, they cleared the smoke from the seventh and eighth floors. Residents have since returned to the dorm. No fire damage or injuries were reported.

FSU’s website said Salley Hall has the capacity to house 570 students. It was built in 1962 and renovated in 2000. Named after longtime professor Nathaniel Moss Salley, it once housed the FSU football team and was the first on-campus dorm to become co-ed.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Grand Junction, CO – Sprinkler system puts out fire started during middle school basketball game

Spectators and participants in a basketball game at Bookcliff Middle School were evacuated Tuesday night after a fire started in one of the school’s bathrooms, the Grand Junction Fire Department said.

Fire officials said the school’s sprinkler system put the fire out and there was no active fire when crews arrived on scene.

GJFD said there was minimal damage. Classes took place as usual on Wednesday.

Officials are investigating the cause of the fire.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Palm Beach, FL – Sprinklers help douse car fire in condominium parking garage

Residents of the La Bonne Vie condominiums got a lucky break Monday evening when a longtime volunteer firefighter helped extinguish a car fire that broke out in their parking garage.

Fire-Rescue Division Chief Sean Baker said the incident happened about 7:10 p.m. in the lower parking garage below the condos, 3475 S. Ocean Blvd.

“The front end of the car was fully involved in fire,” Baker said. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Stephen Miller, one of the residents, said he and his wife Arlene were sitting in their living room when they heard a pop.

“I said ‘That’s not good,’ and then the fire alarms went off,” Miller said Tuesday.

He went downstairs and tried to use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. The burning Mercedes was parked right under a sprinkler head.

“The sprinkler system held it, but I wanted to make sure it didn’t get near the other cars,” Miller said.

Crews finished extinguishing the fire shortly after arriving.

Miller, 70, said he was a volunteer firefighter for 52 years in North Brunswick, N.J. “I’m like an old war horse, a fire horse,” he said, laughing. “It happened and I reacted.”

Other - Retail, Retail

Moncton, NB, Canada – Sprinklers activate to help stop fire at Salvation Army Thrift Store

Staff and customers — and even a goldfish — were evacuated from a Salvation Army Thrift Store in Moncton Saturday after a fire broke out in a backroom storage area.

Three large bins of clothing were on fire when Moncton firefighters arrived on scene at about 6:15 p.m., said platoon Chief Paul Bruens.

“The fire grew quickly and intensely and activated the building sprinkler system,” he said.

The fire was out with about 15 minutes, Bruens said. Most of the damage was from water and smoke.

“The thrift store quickly filled with smoke so it took a little while to safely ventilate the building to make sure occupants could return.”

There were no injuries, Bruens said. Firefighters went so far as to take a fish bowl from one of the offices.

“Everybody got out safely,” Bruens said. “Even the goldfish.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Payson, AZ – Grease fire in apartment complex suppressed by single sprinkler

A family is out of their home after a grease fire Monday night. The fire started around 8 p.m. after a teen living in the home put oil in a pan to fry pinwheels and then walked away. When the 14-year-old returned to the kitchen, the pot of oil had boiled over and started a fire on the stovetop. The fire was making its way up the wall and to overhanging cabinets when a single sprinkler in the kitchen was activated. When firefighters arrived, the sprinklers had already doused the fire.

Battalion Chief Jim Rasmussen said the sprinkler saved not only the kitchen, but likely stopped a larger fire from damaging the whole apartment complex at 209 S. Ponderosa St. Rasmussen warned residents not to leave anything unattended when cooking.

If heating oil, start on a medium setting and increase the heat as needed. Do not start on the highest setting. If a grease fire does start, cover it with a lid if you can safely do so without burning yourself, Rasmussen said. Do not put water on it.

No other sprinklers in the apartment came on. Firefighters shut the single sprinkler off when they arrived. Rasmussen estimated it ran for about 15 minutes before crews shut it off. That works out to about 120 gallons of water. Firefighters helped clean up the water in the unit until a clean up crew arrived. Rasmussen said water damage to the unit would likely keep the family out of the home for a week. The Red Cross will provide the family with assistance.

The unoccupied unit below suffered water damage to its ceiling

Apartment Building, Residential

Binghamton, NY – Apartment fire contained to one unit with help from sprinkler system

Firefighters spent the evening on the scene of an apartment fire at 58 Park Avenue in Binghamton.

According to the Binghamton Fire Department, apartment 1A caught fire.

BFD officials say the fire damage was contained to apartment 1A, which they say now needs extensive renovations.

BFD says the fire sprinkler in the apartment hallway was activated, but the fire was contained to apartment 1A. Smoke, however, moved up the stairwell to both the second and third floors.

A woman and child were pulled out of an apartment window on the third floor because smoke moved to the third floor, trapping the mother and her son in apartment 3A behind a cloud of thick smoke.

“What I heard was the guy on the first floor, he was leaving the building and the fire was going on in his apartment,” said apartment 3A resident and mother Lydia Lopez.

With the tenant from 1-A already out of the building, it was up to Lopez’s downstairs neighbor on the second floor to alert other residents to the fire on the first floor.

“She said ‘tell everybody get out!’ and he just got out, he didn’t tell nobody get out. So by the time I could get out, the house in 3-A was already flooded in smoke and I couldn’t get out with my son. They had to take me out the window from the back,” Lopez continued.

“The tower took a ladder around to the backside of the building, put it up to the third floor, and rescued the mother and her baby from the third floor,” said BFD Assistant Fire Chief Mark Whalen.

The thick smoke made it almost impossible to see the walls of apartment 3-A and Lopez didn’t want to take her son through the smoke.

Chief Whalen says firefighters arrived 2 minutes after the 9-1-1 call, and had her out of the apartment moments after arriving.

She tells 12 News that after being surprised by smoke billowing into their apartment, she’s lucky to be alive.

“I’m happy they got here on time, cuz other times some people are not lucky to get out alive, so we got out safe and sound, thanks to the fire department,” Lopez said.

Asst. Chief Whalen says the apartment complex was turned back over to the owner and the owner will decide whether or not tenants will be allowed back in before repairs are made.

The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.