Tag Archives: Illinois

Auto Dealership, Retail

Wilmette, IL – Fire at car dealership confined by sprinkler system; Damage limited

A Wilmette fire official on Monday credited a ceiling sprinkler system for preventing more damage to a downtown Jaguar dealership than the business could otherwise have suffered in an Aug. 11 fire.  Wilmette Fire Chief Mike McGreal said damage from the fire at Imperial Motors, 721 Green Bay Road, was largely confined to one car in the display room, though the dealership sustained some water damage.

Firefighters responded to a dealership alarm shortly before midnight on Aug. 11 and discovered that the dealership’s south showroom was filled with smoke, McGreal said. But the fire, which investigators traced to a ceiling light fixture in the southwest section of that showroom, was already out because one of the sprinklers near the fixture had activated, he said.

Crews were on the scene until 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 12, according to the fire department report.  Burning material from the ceiling fell on one Jaguar convertible, McGreal said, but damage to the building could have been much worse had the sprinkler system not activated.

“This particular building is all wood, and it has a bolstering truss roof. If the truss had burned out, the whole roof could have gone,” he said, comparing the situation to the February 2015 fire at the Woman’s Club of Wilmette, where flames eventually caused the roof to collapse.

“This is a much better outcome,” McGreal said, adding that Imperial Motors was able to open for business on Aug. 12 after fire crews removed water from the showroom area.  The fire department’s initial damage estimate is $130,000, McGreal said. Dealership owner Jordan Aron said Monday that the business has not yet completed its own loss estimate, but confirmed that there was no structural damage to the building.

“We definitely don’t mess around with things that have to do with life and safety,” Aron said. “We make sure we do all our (fire) inspections and keep up to date.”

Aron said the fire will have no effect on plans to renovate Imperial Motors. In July, Wilmette’s Village Board approved the company’s request to allow it to make renovations required by Jaguar of all its dealerships. However, actual renovation work is “a couple of years out,” Aron said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Moline, IL – Fire at apartment complex controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries

Around 2:30 p.m., firefighters called to 4709 61st St. found nothing showing at a two-story multi-residential apartment complex. They made entry into the apartment to find smoke all the way to the floor and an activated building sprinkler, but no fire. Ventilation was performed and firefighters found a plastic ice cooler on an electric stove.  It was determined the cooler had melted and subsequently caught on fire.

The residents of the apartment were home at the time of the fire and called 911 before evacuating the apartment. Damage to the apartment included the cabinets above the stove with fire, smoke damage throughout and water damage to the kitchen and living room area from the sprinkler system.

No injuries to residents or firefighting personnel were reported. The Moline Fire Department was assisted by Moline Police, the apartment complex maintenance staff and the Red Cross.

Residential, Residential High Rise

Chicago, IL – Kitchen fire in downtown residential high-rise smothered by sprinkler system

** FIRE DEPT REPORTED *** Chicago Fire Department – Fire in a High Rise – 30 S Jefferson St Chicago, IL

A minor kitchen fire was put out by a sprinkler system at 10:54 am. BC3 reports smoke conditions in a high-rise building and requests a fill out to a “Still in a High-Rise.” Aerial Tower 1 checking the East Stairwell Fire Attack Stairwell. T1 assigned west stairwell.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Arcola, IL – Fire at senior living facility contained to one room by sprinkler system

In a fire minutes count. Practice and training pay off. On Saturday morning at about 1:30am staff at Carriage Crossing in the Green Mill Village development in Arcola noticed smoke.  Within moments are fire sprinkler was activated and staff at the assisted living facility began evacuating residents near the area of the fire.  With the help of firefighters all 46 residents were removed from the building.

“Those individuals and those residents were out within seven minutes. So the training paid off.  Everyone stayed very calm,” Cassie Yoder of Green Mill Village told WAND’s Doug Wolfe.  “Residents were with the people they knew.”

Residents are now housed in the adjoining Best Western Plus which is a sister property to Carriage Crossing. Residents and staff have settled in to a normal routine. On Monday, clean-up was underway.

“Most of the damage is just from the sprinkler system and water damage,” said co-owner Jeff Bentley. “It’s contained to one room and at this point we don’t know what caused it yet.”

Bentley says his company has constructed a new facility in Champaign that is similar to the one in Arcola. His staff is attempting to get state licensing to speed up so some of the residents can be moved to Champaign.

The state fire marshal’s office was at Carriage Crossing on Monday attempting to determine a cause of the fire.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Peoria, IL – Fire at senior living center controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Peoria Fire officials are investigating a blaze that broke out Thursday at Courtyard Estates at 1117 N. Western Ave. There was a reported explosion from one of the apartments, however officials cannot determine if there actually was one. Fire crews discovered the blaze in an apartment on the fourth floor where they found an air conditioning unit that appeared to have an electrical issue and caught fire. The complex’s sprinkler system activated, according to Battalion Chief Aldo Scott. A fire investigator was called to the scene to determine an official cause. No injuries were reported.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Lincolnshire, IL – Trash room fire in residential condominium building extinguished by single sprinkler

*NO MEDIA COVERAGE – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED*
“Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District received a fire alarm for a 5 story residential condo building. Crews found a waterflow activation for the trash room. Once inside they found that a single sprinkler had controlled and extinguished a small fire in the dumpster at the bottom of the trash chute. The chute was equipped with a fusible link activated fire door at the opening to the trash chute and sprinklers in the shaft. Neither activated due to the single sprinkler activation.”

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Chicago, IL – Sprinklers contain fire at pharmaceutical company for second time this year

For the second time in three months a fire started at the AbbVie pharmaceutical research and development facility in North Chicago.

Firefighters responded about 9:40 p.m. Tuesday to a reported fire at the AbbVie Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing facility at 1401 Sheridan Road, North Chicago Fire Chief Dell Urban said.

The fire started in a laboratory and electronics storage room, she said. The blaze was contained to the room, which sustained water damage.

“The fire was held in check by the sprinkler system,” Urban said. “Everyone had been evacuated and there were no injuries.”

The chief described the fire as electrical, but said the company and the department are still investigating the cause.

Urban said there was a fire laboratory at the complex about three months ago. That blaze was also controlled by the sprinkler system.

The AbbVie Fire Department did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

Apartment Building, Residential

Elgin, IL – (NO MEDIA COVERAGE) Sprinkler activates to extinguish apartment kitchen fire

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE — FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED **

On Wednesday, June 8th, 2016 at 6:35p.m., members of the Elgin Fire Department responded to 717 West Highland for an automatic fire alarm.

Upon arrival fire companies found a moderate smoke condition on the 4th floor with smoke coming from apartment 405.  It was quickly determined the sprinkler in the apartment had activated and extinguished the fire that was located in the kitchen.

A total of seven Elgin Fire companies responded to the scene and there were no civilian or fire department injuries sustained during the incident.

The cause of the fire was determined to be unattended cooking on a stove using grease. Total damage was estimated to be approximately $5,000.

The Elgin Fire Department would like to remind its citizens to never leave food cooking unattended on a stove.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Pekin, IL – Sprinklers hold arson fire in check at popular restaurant and tavern

An employee of a popular restaurant and tavern allegedly asked another for advice on how to set it on fire — now he is charged with arson.

The combination of flaming stove burners and cooking oil, left atop the stove and spread on walls, caused minor damage to Goodfellas Pub & Pizza on Wednesday, though the business remained closed Monday.

That obvious evidence of arson and his own statements led police on Friday to arrest Scott Sutherland, 34, of Pekin. He was charged in bonding court Sunday and remained in custody Monday on $10,000 bond.

Sutherland’s alleged plan to destroy the business at 1414 N. Eighth St. “didn’t work out the way he thought it would,” Pekin Deputy Fire Chief Brian Cox said Monday. Cooking oil “is not very flammable.”

Sutherland, a bartender and cook, told a fellow employee sometime before the fire “about moving to Texas and burning the business down,” and asked her if she knew how to set it on fire, according to a prosecutor’s court affidavit.

Loud and electronic alarms set off by a sprinkler system alerted an officer in the area of the North Eighth Street Plaza, where Goodfellas is located, and firefighters to the smoldering flames in the business shortly before noon.

While other businesses in the plaza were evacuated, the sprinklers kept the fire “in check until we got there,” Cox said.  Firefighters discovered that all of the restaurant’s kitchen burners had been left on full blast, as well as its broiler and a fryer, the affidavit stated. A box of cooking oil sat on one of the burners, while more oil was smeared on walls where evidence of fire also was found.

Sutherland allegedly prepared what he thought would turn into a huge blaze more than six hours earlier, after the business closed for the night.

The restaurant’s security video equipment was missing, but video from another security system in the area recorded a man identified as Sutherland in the building between 4 and 5 a.m., “holding electronic equipment and pouring a substance on hallway walls,” the affidavit stated.  

Several employees said Sutherland was the last worker to leave Goodfellas the night before the fire and had keys to the business, the affidavit stated.

Sutherland told police Friday that he didn’t remember setting the fire and didn’t do so on purpose, but thought it might have been “a drunken mistake,” the affidavit stated.

He said he had returned to the business after closing to retrieve his apartment keys. He slipped on grease on the kitchen floor and bumped the stove, but didn’t think he turned it on.

 

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Elk Grove Village, IL – Warehouse fire limited by sprinkler system; Fire started in truck trailer

Fire engulfed a truck trailer filled with cleaning and restaurant supplies parked at the loading dock of a warehouse in Elk Grove Village last night (Wednesday). Firefighters spent about two hours battling the blaze and clearing the area of smoke after the flames were extinguished.

Elk Grove Village Fire Chief Richard Mikel said flames became so intense inside the trailer, it burned through the roof of the trailer sending large amounts of smoke billowing into the air and throughout the entire warehouse at 2301 Lunt Ave.

Mikel estimated the warehouse to be several hundred thousand square feet in size. Heat from the trailer fire activated sprinklers above the loading dock and saving the building from fire damage. Mikel said he is scheduled to meet with building owners to assess the extent of significant smoke damage. Mikel said water damage to the building was minimal.

Firefighters were alerted by witnesses from across the street who saw smoke rising at about 10 p.m., Mikel said. Firefighters had the fire out and smoke vented by about midnight. Mikel said there were no injuries and he did not believe anyone was in the building when the fire began.

Firefighters arriving on scene saw the entire building engulfed in smoke and called for an upgraded Code 4 alarm. That alarm brought nearly 30 firefighters from Des Plaines, Elk Grove Township, Itasca, Wood Dale and Bensenville to assist Elk Grove Village. Crews used a special Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) truck equipped with a giant fan to clear the building of smoke after the trailer was extinguished and towed away from the loading dock.

Mikel said had the building not been equipped with a sprinkler system, the building itself would have likely caught fire causing a vastly larger blaze. He also said the trailer did not have a semi tractor attached to it when it caught fire. He said that would have also made the fire worse.