Tag Archives: Illinois

Other - Retail, Retail

Rockford, IL – Beauty supply store fire caused by unattended incense put out by sprinkler system

No one was injured this morning when a fire broke out inside a Rockford beauty supply store, a fire investigator said.

Rockford firefighters were called at 9:18 a.m. to the fire at State Beauty Supply, 4010 E. State St., according to the fire department.

Arson investigator Mike Schnaper said the fire began in the back of the shop. It was accidental, he said. Fire Division Chief Matt Knott said the fire was caused by incense left burning.

The fire was extinguished by the store’s sprinkler system and smoke and water damage is estimated at $10,000, according to the fire department.”

The damage was very well controlled by the sprinklers,” Schnaper said, but the shop isn’t usable at this time.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Evanston, IL – Fire at senior residential high rise controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Evanston fire crews responded to a report of a fire on the 9th floor of The Mather at 425 Davis St. shortly before noon.  Fire Division Chief Paul Polep says a resident of the retirement community had left a stove top burner on which ignited a basket of goods on the counter top.  Polep says the the sprinkler system in the apartment had brought the fire under control by the time fire fighters arrived.  Residents of the floor evacuated safely, Polep says, and there were no injuries reported.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Bolingbrook, IL – Kitchen fryer fire at McDonald’s extinguished by sprinkler system

A Bolingbrook McDonald’s was shut down due to a kitchen fryer fire Saturday.  The Bolingbrook Fire Department responded to the fire at 3:21 a.m. and evacuated the building, located at 100 N. Bolingbrook Drive. The sprinkler system had activated and extinguished the fire, according to the Bolingbrook Fire Department.

Once firefighters ensured the fire was out, they ventilated the building. The Will County Health Department was notified and cleanup and repairs are continuing. McDonald’s management expects to have all necessary repairs completed by Wednesday. The store could reopen by Thursday.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Chicago, IL – Fire at Ogilvie Transportation Center quickly doused by sprinkler system

A small fire at the Ogilvie Transportation Center was quickly doused by a sprinkler, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesman.

The fire at the building at 500 W. Madison St. a little before 9 p.m. was put out by sprinklers, and while there was some smoke in the building, fire officials quickly declared the fire under control, the spokesman said. No one was injured, he said.

Fire crews opened doors and used fans to air out the building.

Metra train operations weren’t being disrupted because riders were able to enter and leave the train platform from exits other than the main one on Madison, said Tom Miller, a Metra spokesman. Some CTA buses were rerouted in the area because of the large Fire Department response for the high-rise.

A few dozen people huddled near the Madison entrance until fire officials cleared the building.

Corey Tate, 28, a Forest Park resident, said he was working with at least five other people on the 32nd floor when the fire alarm went off.

“We decided it’s probably not safe to stay up on the 32nd floor so we took the stairwell all the way down,” Tate said. “It made my heart beat so fast. I didn’t know what the heck was going on.”

A traffic reporter who works at the building, also known as the Citigroup Center, said in a tweet that his office was being evacuated because of the fire, after it was declared out.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Chicago, IL – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in low income residential high-rise

Last Friday, fire sprinklers controlled and extinguished a fire in a trash compactor room at the Lawson House YMCA at 30 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. The 24-story residential high-rise, which was built in 1934, is the largest single-room occupancy supportive housing facility in the Midwest with nearly 600 apartment units.

“Some of the residents in the low-income building are formerly homeless, so a fire that could potentially displace them again would be devastating. Fire sprinklers saved the day for the hundreds of people that live there,” says Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board.

Lia also notes that the fire sprinkler save is a good reminder to Chicago high-rise building owners that the city’s deadline to retrofit high-rises with fire sprinklers by January 1, 2017, is fast approaching.

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.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Champaign, IL – Sprinkler system activates to help control parking garage fire at University of Illinois

At around 3 p.m. on Friday, firefighters were called to Presby Hall after an automatic fire alarm went off. With smoke exiting the parking garage, firefighters sprayed water on the building in conjunction with the sprinkler system going off.

The fire appeared to be caused by a malfunction with a cooking unit, said Roger Cruz, captain of the Champaign Fire department.
Several students claim that brisket grilled in the garage sparked the malfunction. Because of the enclosed space, subsequent smoke led to the fire. That speculation, however, has not been confirmed by the authorities.

Other students speculate a gas leak as the source. They claimed to see gas when entering the parking garage, where they too saw the cooking unit on fire.

Fire-related emergencies are not new to Presby Hall. Hannah Thompson, freshman in Engineering, said the fire alarm has gone off almost weekly at Presby. She claims this is the eleventh time that has happened this year.

“It’s gotten really inconvenient but it’s okay,” said Thompson. “It’s something exciting every week.”  The quick response time to these types of emergencies reassures her.
“I suppose it’s good that the fire alarms are so sensitive and the fire trucks are always here relatively quickly,” said Thompson.

“Thankfully no one’s hurt,” said Luke Peterson, freshman in DGS.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Gurnee, IL – (NO MEDIA COVERAGE) Sprinkler puts out trash can fire in hotel room; Small dog found during search

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE — FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED *** On September 25, 2016 at 9:57 a.m., Gurnee Fire Department responded to the Extended Stay Hotel for a True Alarm. Upon arrival, firefighters found that the building was evacuated.

The first engine went to the panel and noted a water-flow on the 3rd floor. Engine 1311 investigated and found water coming from room #302. Engine 1311 made entry and found a trash can fire that had been put out by the sprinkler in the room. A primary search revealed a small dog in the room.

Truck 1331 ventilated the room and Engine 1312 checked for extension and water damage. Rescue 1344 took the panel and had lobby control. Power was shut off to room #302. The sprinkler system was shut down and the hotel posted a fire watch. Hotel management will take care of clean-up and will contact alarm company.

Auto Dealership, Retail

Arlington Heights, IL – Early morning blaze at car dealership quickly put out by sprinkler system

An early morning blaze Friday at an Arlington Heights car dealership was quickly extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system, officials with the Arlington Heights Fire Department said.

The Arlington Heights Fire Department responded to a call from a passerby who reported seeing a fire just after midnight at the Arlington Nissan dealership at 1100 W. Dundee Road, Battalion Chief Tom Zerfass said.

The fire is thought to have been started by a car that was brought in for service, and was parked in one of the warehouse bays, Zerfass said.  The building was empty at the time, Zerfass said, and there were no injuries reported.

Other-Government/Military

Wilmette, IL – Storage room fire at public works garage controlled by sprinkler system; Damage minimized

Wimette’s fire chief is crediting sprinklers for keeping a Tuesday storage room fire at the Wilmette public works garage from potentially engulfing the entire building.  The garage at 711 Laramie Ave. in west Wilmette sustained an estimated $15,000 damage in the incident, which was called in as an alarm shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Fire Chief Mike McGreal, but the cost could have gone much higher, he said Sept. 7.

He praised village administrators and fire prevention bureau officials who decided a little over eight years ago, at the time the village added an addition to the public works building, to retrofit the garage with a sprinkler system.

“They didn’t have to, but they had the forethought to do it,” McGreal said. “That is a multimillion dollar facility, plus the vehicles in the garage that are very expensive, and very difficult to replace. In minutes, this could have been a total loss if there hadn’t been a sprinkler system.”

Had flames from the storeroom not been dampened by sprinklers, they could have spread to the building’s wooden roof, he said.  The 15,400-square-foot public works garage houses most of the village’s public works vehicles and equipment, including front end loaders, back hoes, dump trucks and sewer vac trucks, he said. Wilmette’s daily public works services would have suffered significant problems if that equipment had been lost in a fire, he said.

McGreal said fire crews that responded to the alarm found the sprinklers in use and smoke coming out the garage’s main bay. They upgraded the alarm, which called in help from the Winnetka, Northfield, Evanston, Glenview, Skokie, Morton Grove and Highland Park fire departments. However, fire crews found most of the fire under control in a storage room used by the village’s sewer department, where it appeared to have started, he said. Crews put out the remaining flames, and the incident was cleared by 4:15 p.m.

There were no injuries, Engineering and Public Works Director Brigitte Berger said Tuesday.  Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire, McGreal said.  “All’s well that ends well,” McGreal said. “They’re back in business and they’re cleaning it up now.”