Tag Archives: Georgia

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Doraville, GA – Sprinklers control fire at ceramics manufacturer; Equipment malfunction apparent cause

An equipment malfunction was the apparent cause of a business fire Saturday in Gwinnett County. Gwinnett Fire said Applied Ceramics, located at 5555 Pleasantdale Road, reported the fire around 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Employees were alerted to the danger by smoke alarms and the activation of the sprinkler system.

The building is located in unincorporated Atlanta in Gwinnett County, not far from the city limits of Peachtree Corners and Norcross. “When fire crews arrived on scene they found moderate smoke showing, and employees evacuating the structure,” Lt. Jerrod Barrett said in the email. “First-arriving Engine crew investigated the fire and found a machine had caught fire which was held in check by an overhead sprinkler system. Crews advanced attack hand lines into the business to extinguish the fire.”  No one was injured in the blaze.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Cartersville, GA – Sprinkler system suppresses possible meth lab fire at hotel

An explosion that left a bathroom door lying in the middle of a hotel room had markers of a methamphetamine lab, according to a drug official.

Emergency officials responded about 8 p.m. to Cartersville North Inns & Suites, 11 Kent Drive in Cartersville, after reports of an explosion blew the door off and activated the sprinkler system. “We responded to a possible meth lab explosion. It has some signatures of a meth lab explosion, but I won’t know until we get a search warrant to be able to get into the room and isolate that,” Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force Commander Capt. Mark Mayton said, declining to detail the signatures present at the scene.

Bartow County Fire Department Capt. Mike Kimbrel said crews responded to the third floor room to find no fire but other indicators of what may have occurred. “There was no fire. We suspect the sprinkler system suppressed it … worked like it was supposed to,” he said. “… There was an odor they encountered. Everything we were doing was just precautionary, making sure no one was contaminated, everybody was accounted for.

“We’ve been told it was an explosion. … I don’t know that somebody didn’t just kick the door in. According to my crews, the door was off the hinges. I was just up there and there was a door laying in the floor of the bedroom.” Authorities conducted a partial evacuation and hotel employees on scene Wednesday night were shifting guests to other floors as necessary.

“We have secured the immediate area to make sure there was no contamination to other guests that were in the building. We’ve evacuated the entire floor that this happened on,” Mayton said. The occupants of the room were not at the scene and, as of press time, were not in custody. Mayton declined to comment on their identity.

While waiting for a search warrant for the room, Mayton said the investigation would determine whether the room’s occupants were indeed manufacturing meth. “It’s going to depend on what we find in there. The air is going to have to be sampled. We have to use air monitoring equipment just to make sure there’s no explosive levels of gases in there,” he said. No injuries were reported, although authorities were in contact with area hospitals for possible patients with chemical burns.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Valdosta, GA – Sprinklers put out fire at South Georgia Pecan warehouse

Around 12:30, a fire broke out inside South Georgia Pecan’s warehouse on E. Hill Ave.  Valdosta Fire Marshal Cpt. James Clinkscales said the fire started because someone was using a propane torch carelessly as they were preparing some pallets for shipping. “Upon arrival, fire was out.  Thank God for the sprinkler system that kicked in” Cpt. Clinkscales explained.  The building was evacuated as a precaution, but no one was hurt and employees were able to go back in after the fire.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Atlanta, GA – Fire at CDC laboratory controlled with help from sprinkler system

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention closed one of its laboratory buildings Wednesday after an overnight fire. CDC officials say the fire broke out around midnight in the Rubella lab in Building 18. They say the laboratory’s water sprinkler system functioned properly, and local fire and CDC officials responded accordingly.

No one was injured and there was no release or loss of containment of any germs. Officials are investigating the cause of the fire but say early indications point to a piece of laboratory equipment that malfunctioned. The building houses about 470 employees. In addition to rubella, scientists in the building also work on measles, mumps, HIV, meningitis, hepatitis, norovirus and other pathogens.

Other / Not Specified

Savannah, GA – Sprinklers keep parking garage fire from spreading

According to Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police, Whitaker Street was closed at Bay Street for about an hour on Friday night, while Savannah Fire worked a vehicle fire in the Whitaker Street Parking Garage. According to Savannah Fire’s Public Information Officer, Mark Keller, an SUV caught fire on the lower level of the garage, triggering the garage sprinkler system, which prevented the fire from spreading. One nearby vehicle may have received minor damage.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Duluth, GA – Sprinkler system extinguishes overnight fire at Hilton Garden Inn

A basket of rags caught fire in the kitchen of a Gwinnett County hotel Monday morning.  The hotel’s sprinkler system extinguished the flames, which broke out at around 2:30 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in the 2000 block of Sugarloaf Circle.

Gwinnett County Fire Lt. Jerrod Barrett said the fire started in a basket of cooking oil rags.   About 60 guests and hotel staff members were briefly evacuated from the building while firefighters investigated the source of the fire.  Barrett said the guests were soon able to return to their rooms.

Investigators believe the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion of the rags in their plastic cart.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Conyers, GA – Sprinklers prevent early morning fire from spreading at printing company

A printing press caught fire at 4D Printing in Conyers Thursday morning, reported Rockdale News. The company’s sprinkler system was able to fully contain the fire before firefighters responded to the scene. When they arrived, fire crews saw moderate smoke coming from one side of the building and heavy smoke coming from the press. According to Rockdale News, firefighters put more water on the smoldering press and ventilated the building.

The sprinkler system had just been serviced and worked appropriately, activating when heat was sensed. This prevented the fire from spreading throughout the 30,000-square-foot facility and consuming the entire structure.

Apartment Building, Residential

Norcross, GA – Late night apartment fire held in check by sprinkler system

No one was injured in a Tuesday evening apartment fire near Norcross, according to Gwinnett Fire.  The fire was held in check by the sprinkler system and was contained to the bathroom.  The fire happened after 10 p.m. at the Los Colinas Apartments on Lia Hills Drive.  It appears to have been accidental and started by a bathroom exhaust fan, firefighters said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Dalton, GA – Fire at automotive parts manufacturer Shiroki contained by sprinklers

A fire Friday afternoon at Shiroki North America on Veterans Drive was quickly brought under control, according to Dalton Fire Chief Bruce Satterfield. The fire broke out in a small room where workers were putting coating on car parts at about 1:20 p.m.

Satterfield said a spark in one of the plant’s filter systems ignited the fire. The fire activated two sprinkler heads in that room and “they really kept the fire down,” he added.

The responding crews handled the response without calling for additional help and the fire was under control in less than 10 minutes, Satterfield said. He estimated the damage to the filter system to be around $15,000. Satterfield credited the company for keeping its fire safety equipment in good condition. There were no injuries.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Augusta, GA – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in overnight fire at Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant

The fire at Buffalo Wild Wings on Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway is now out according to fire crews on scene.  A delivery man dropping off food discovered the building filled with smoke and called the fire department around 3:45 a.m., fire officials on scene told News 12.

No one was hurt, but there is water and smoke damage. The sprinkler system was activated before the fire department got on scene, officials said.  Lt. Neal Brown says they believe the fire is electrical.