Firefighters have put out a blaze at a building on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.
Officials say crews found a small fire inside the roof of an apartment building on the 30 block of Peachtree Street around 6:30 Thursday morning.
They say a sprinkler system contained the fire and kept it from spreading.
No one was hurt in the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Forsyth County Division Fire Chief Jason Shivers said damage was significantly limited thanks to all systems working properly and keeping an external fire at Q Korean Steakhouse from causing any significant damage inside.
Those systems included smoke alarms and the sprinkler system which both activated around 6:45 p.m. when the fire started.
However, they also included a third element – an off-duty Alpharetta firefighter who immediately used three dry chemical fire extinguishers to help control the flames until local crews could arrive.
At this point, the fire’s cause is considered accidental, however, the specific cause hasn’t yet been determined. It’s unclear how long, at this point, repairs will take or when the restaurant intends to reopen.
The fire occurred at the Lakewood Christian Manor off Springdale Road in southwest Atlanta, battalion Chief Tony Terrell said at the scene.
“The sprinkler system kept it in check,” and firefighters were able to get inside and extinguish the blaze, Terrell said, but crews were forced to evacuate residents on that floor because of water damage.
Fire officials said it appears the small blaze began inside a closet.
“We had a basket of clothes and laundry burning inside the closet,” Terrell said, adding that the fifth floor of the high-rise sustained water damage from the apartment’s sprinkler system. No injuries were reported, but seven residents have been displaced.
While fires at senior living complexes aren’t common, Terrell said the biggest challenge is evacuating residents who are unable to get out on their own. The building is nine stories tall and houses hundreds of residents, most of whom are older or disabled.
“The rest of the residents were allowed to shelter in place because we only had smoke in the hallway where we had the fire,” he said.
Volunteers from the American Red Cross responded to the scene and are offering temporary assistance to seven residents from six units that were damaged, agency spokeswoman Sherry Nicholson said. In addition, a company was called in to remove the water from the fifth floor.
“They’re going to have to wait until all the water is cleaned up before they can return to their apartments,” Terrell said.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
A sprinkler system averted would could have been a major fire damage at John’s Supermarket.
The Monroe Fire Department and Walton County Fire Rescue were dispatched to a commercial fire at the grocer, at 416 S. Broad St., shortly before 9:15 a.m. Monday.
Monroe fire Battalion Chief Jack Armstrong said the first units to arrive found a fire in a restroom extinguished by the sprinkler system.
“This was a fantastic example of how important fire sprinklers are,” Armstrong said. “What could have been millions in a loss only caused a few hundred dollars of damage.”
He said a faulty motor in the bathroom’s exhaust fan was the cause of the fire.
Armstrong said the store reopened after the danger eased.
John’s recently opened a major renovation of the store, which has been in Monroe for more than 50 years. The grocer opened an in-store restaurant, Bistro South, and added 8,500 square feet.
There are six loft apartments as well.
Nioyca Nicole Lusega, 40, was arrested Saturday morning, less than three hours after firefighters responded to a blaze at the couple’s Austell apartment, investigators said.
Crews were called to the Lake Crossing Apartments along Riverside Parkway about 6 a.m. after the fire began during a domestic dispute, Cobb fire’s chief investigator Brian Beaty told AJC.com.
“The fire suppression system extinguished the fire, fortunately. But that did not negate the intent or the endangerment part,” Beaty said. “It was a multi-family dwelling, and that’s where it gets a little more complicated than just setting your boyfriend’s stuff on fire.”
Though the apartment’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire before crews arrived, several of Lusega’s neighbors suffered water damage in their units, authorities said.
Lusega, who faces one count of first-degree arson, remains held in the Cobb County Jail on a $27,720 bond, online records show.
At 1:31 p.m. on Thursday, the Savannah Fire Department was dispatched to a fire in the 1400 Block of Barnes Drive in the Sustainable Fellwood residential complex. Engine 4 was first on scene.
The firefighters discovered that a kitchen fire triggered the sprinkler system inside an apartment. The sprinklers extinguished the fire, but flooded the apartment.
No one was injured, but the resident was displaced due to water damage. Firefighters made sure the fire was completely out and removed excess water from the apartment.
CEO of the home, Alison Evans, says she got a call around 6:45 p.m. that a golf cart parked under a breezeway to an administration building had caught fire.
The golf cart was battery powered, and something in it malfunctioned, according to the Macon-Bibb Fire Department.
The department says there was no major damage to the breezeway itself other than soot buildup and some water damage inside the building due to a sprinkler.
Evans says the fire was not near any of their children’s homes, and there were no injuries. The home is operating as normal.
They lost a golf cart, but Evans says she’s happy with the fire department’s response.
The Methodist Home for Children and Youth is located off Pierce Avenue.
As a result, 54 students have been temporarily displaced from Myers Hall, which is off South Lumpkin Street on UGA’s campus, university spokesman Greg Trevor told AJC.com.
The fire took place early Sunday morning and was isolated to a single room, triggering the sprinkler in that room, Trevor said in an emailed statement.
The Athens-Clarke County Fire Department responded and were able to quickly extinguish the fire. No one was injured, and students were able to reenter the building later that morning.
However, the water damage affected 54 students, the statement said. The university is providing temporary housing for those affected while the cleanup is completed. The places where those students will be housed was not provided.
The damages are expected to be repaired by Monday, allowing those students to move back into the dorm.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. AJC.com has reached out to the fire department for more information.
LaGrange fire crews responded to a fire at an apartment complex shortly after noon Saturday.
The fire happened at Mallard Lake Apartments on Old Airport Road.
As firefighters were en route to the complex, Troup County 911 was told that a bathroom in an apartment unit was on fire.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire with a sprinkler system and quickly extinguished the fire with a minimal amount of water.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Capt. Joseph Bryant of the Cobb County Fire Department said testing from the county’s hazmat team showed the building was safe to reenter. The chemicals involved include sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and several that are unknown but which were used in minuscule quantities.
Three employees of CryoLife, a medical device company, were working with the chemicals when a reaction set off a small fire and the building’s sprinkler system. The sprinklers extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived at the scene.
One of the three employees was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Bryant said the fire was not as serious as the county’s response would suggest.
“Any time we have a hazmat response, we send a ton of equipment out there,” he said.
As a precaution, firefighters were decontaminated as they left the building.