Tag Archives: Georgia

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Athens, GA – Fire contained to single dorm room thanks to fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

While a fire damaged one room at a University of Georgia student dormitory over the weekend, the ensuing water damage means many other students were affected.

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.

Apartment Building, Residential

LaGrange, GA – Bathroom apartment fire contained by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

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.

Office Building, Other Business

Kennesaw, GA – Chemical fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Around 400 people were evacuated from a building on Roberts Boulevard in Kennesaw after a small chemical fire Tuesday morning.

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.

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Storage / Warehouse

Milledgeville, GA – Reactive chemical sets fire to warehouse, sprinkler system helped keep fire in check; No injuries reported

A chemical fire Monday evening in a warehouse at the Zschimmer & Schwarz Inc. plant in Milledgeville left parts of the plant with heat and water damages.

No injuries were reported to either plant employees or to firefighters who were alerted to the scene following a 911 call about 6:30 p.m. Employees had evacuated the plant before the first firefighters arrived. 

More than two dozen firefighters from Baldwin County Fire Rescue and Milledgeville Fire Rescue responded to the fire, which reportedly sent flames up to the ceiling beams of the plant’s smaller warehouse, located to the left front portion of the building that overlooks Ga. Route 22 near Britt Waters Road. 

At least three different agencies were involved Tuesday in investigating the fire, including Baldwin County Fire Rescue, Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Emergency Response Team.

“The fire was contained to one section in the warehouse,” according to Baldwin County Fire Rescue Chief Steve Somers.

He said the fire was believed to have been caused by a reactive chemical. The name of the chemical had not been disclosed publicly as of Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ll have it in the report as soon as it is completed,” Somers said.

The fire chief said none of the plant’s employees or any of the firefighters were exposed to the chemical, however. 

“Several other non-chemical containers also sustained heat damages from the fire,” Somers said. “Those products were not flammable. The fire just caused the substance in them to leak out.”

Somers said the only pallet of chemical substance that was what he described as hazardous was the one that caught fire.

The Milledgeville Zschimmer & Schwarz plant produces several different chemicals that are used for soap and other products.

“Most of the chemicals that they produce are not hazardous,” Somers said.

The fire spread smoke throughout much of the building, including the office area.

“There seems to be no other ignition source in that area, so that’s what we, and the chemist from the company, are going with at this time,” Somers said. “The chemist tried to explain to us that the product was not in a settled state. In fact, they were in the process of getting rid of it. They were not involved in getting rid of it when this happened, but they were working on the process of getting it out of the warehouse. But, it reacted before that could do something with it.”

Somers said the evacuation involved a skeleton crew of employees. All of them stayed on the front side of the building while county and city firefighters combed the building in search of hot spots.

The fire chief said a couple of ceiling beams were damaged due to the heat.

“The fire probable lasted just a few seconds, but it was hot enough to do that amount of damage in that short a period of time,” Somers said. “Immediately, it set off approximately 40 sprinkler heads in the warehouse.”

Somers said the plant’s offices sustained no real damages.

Firefighters were led by Baldwin County Fire Rescue Deputy Chief of Operations Philip Adams. 

“Everybody did a great job of working together,” Somers said, referring to county and city firefighters. “Anytime we have a structure fire, we back each other up. The city actually got there a few seconds before we did. And they did an awesome job in figuring out what was going on so they could give us a heads-up when we got there.”

College/University (on campus), School / University

Atlanta, GA – Fire sprinkler system puts out fire at Morris Brown College office

A weekend fire damaged Morris Brown College’s administrative offices, its interim president said.

Atlanta Fire Rescue Department officials got a call about a structure fire on the campus at about 6:15 a.m. Saturday, according to an incident report the department gave The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. Firefighters found a small trash fire that reached the president’s desk. The sprinkler system put out the fire, the report said. The cause of the fire was not determined and is under investigation, said Atlanta Fire Rescue Sgt. Cortez Stafford.

Kevin E. James, the college’s interim president, shared a photo on social media showing a charred chair, desk and burned papers strewn across the office. James said in a video posted later Saturday that the water damage destroyed his office and other parts of the administration building were flooded. He asked alumni to donate.

“We need to raise $100,000 to get the water out of our building,” James, who said he was in Florida meeting with alumni, said in the video.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked Morris Brown’s accreditation in 2002 after ballooning debt. Because Morris Brown is not accredited, students are not able to receive federal loans. James said in March the college had 42 students.

James began a fundraising campaign in March as part of an effort to regain its accreditation, which it is pursuing through the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. James said the college raised $85,000 since March 1 and set a goal of raising $5 million in six months. 

Morris Brown, founded in 1881, was the first historically black college and university in Georgia founded by African Americans.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Valdosta, GA – Sprinkler system extinguishes kitchen fire on fourth floor of hotel

The Valdosta Fire Department responded to an early-morning fire Sunday at a four-story hotel.

Crews arrived to the hotel at 1003 North St. Augustine Street just after 4:30 a.m.

Upon arrival, firefighters found that the sprinkler system on the fourth floor of the building had extinguished the small kitchen fire. The cause of the fire was determined to be unattended cooking.

Fire crews remained on scene to assist water removal personnel.

Apartment Building, Residential

Savannah, GA – Apartment cooking fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

Savannah Fire Rescue cut water and power to two units at the Montgomery Landings Apartments Sunday night after a cooking fire activated the fire sprinkler system and caused extensive flooding Savannah Fire Rescue was dispatched to the Montgomery Landings Apartments at 714 W. 57th Street, and arrived on scene within five minutes at 9:13 p.m., spokeswoman Jenel Few said. A cooking fire activated the fire sprinkler system in second floor apartment 409.

The sprinklers extinguished the fire. Savannah Fire Rescue Firefighters shut off water and power in the affected units and removed excess water. No one was injured, but 11 people were displaced. The Red Cross was called to provide assistance, Few said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Gainesville, GA – Sprinkler system activated for stovetop fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

A pan of grease on a stovetop was determined to be the culprit for a fire report at Lenox Park Apartments Friday, March 29.

Gainesville Fire spokesman Keith Smith said the department took the report around noon at the apartment complex off of Athens Highway.

The fire activated the sprinkler systems.

“There was minor damage to the stovetop and water damage to the fire apartment and the apartment below. Maintenance personnel were in the process of removing the water from both apartments,” Smith wrote in a news release.

No injuries were reported.

Other Business

Buford, GA – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in suppressing commercial structure fire

Investigators have ruled the cause of a three-story commercial structure to be accidental and electrical in nature. Firefighters responded at 12:41 P.M. to a report of a business fire at the 100 block of East Main Street NE in the historic business district of downtown Buford. The caller to 9-1-1 reported that smoke was coming out of the crawlspace. Firefighters had to force entry into the structure by using a K-12 saw to cut through two doors on the backside of the building. While the firefighters were working on gaining access, other crews were rapidly evacuating adjacent businesses until the fire could be located and extinguished.

Upon entry, crews found two sprinkler heads that had been activated and were suppressing the fire. Firefighters had already deployed handlines and immediately began attacking the rest of the fire as they made their way into the structure. The fire had begun extending up a wall on the first floor towards the second floor but the aggressive attack by firefighters kept any further fire damage from occurring. There were no reported injuries.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Savannah, GA – Overnight cooking fire at senior apartment building contained with help from sprinkler system

Ten residents of the Rose of Sharon apartments in Savannah cannot go home Sunday after a cooking fire triggered the sprinkler system and flooded several units Saturday night. It happened just after 11 p.m. Savannah Fire Rescue responded to the Rose of Sharon senior-living apartments. They say a resident on the fourth floor was cooking when a pot caught fire and activated the sprinkler system. He was transported to hospital for smoke inhalation. The water damage displaced 10 residents. Two residents sought assistance from the Red Cross. Eight found temporary housing on their own. Savannah Fire Rescue recommends that you never leave food unattended while it is cooking. Always set a timer as a reminder and turn the stove and oven off if you have to leave the house.