Apartment Building, Residential Rockford, IL – Apartment kitchen fire contained by sprinkler system; No injuries September 16, 2015 viking210 A grease fire before 4:30 p.m. Saturday broke out at the Zion Development apartment complex, 1055 E. State St., a Rockford Fire Department incident report said. Rockford Fire Department firefighters found fire in the kitchen of a fifth-floor apartment contained by the building sprinkler system. Occupants of damaged apartments were relocated to other areas of the apartment building. Rockford fire investigators listed the fire as accidental. No injuries were reported. Twenty-one firefighters participated in the fire response and cleanup activities.
Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant Des Plaines, IL – Sprinkler system contains electric fire at Comfort Inn hotel September 14, 2015 viking210 An activated sprinkler system in the Comfort Inn hotel, 2175 Touhy Ave., Des Plaines, last Friday helped keep a fire in a basement storage room from spreading, which could have caused more damage and possibly injuries, according to Des Plaines Fire Chief Alan Wax. Firefighters who were called to the scene at 6:15 p.m. were able to extinguish the blaze within 15 minutes and after the building was ventilated, occupants were able to return to their rooms about 90 minutes later. Shortly after firefighters arrived on the scene, they found smoke throughout the basement with “extremely heavy smoke and some fire” in the storage room. At the same time, fire personnel went from room-to-room on all of the hotel’s floors confirming that no one was present as hallways were also filling with smoke. According to Wax, one sprinkler head had activated over the fire. This contained the blaze. It also activated the automatic alarm signal that summoned the fire department. The fire caused considerable damage to stored tables, chairs and other items in the storage room as well as electrical equipment. There was little structural damage and no injuries were reported. The hotel remained open after the incident. Cause of the fire, investigators determined, was arcing from a large electrical feed. “This was another great save by an automatic fire sprinkler system,” said Wax.
College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory Charleston, IL – Residence hall fire at Eastern Illinois University doused by sprinkler system August 29, 2015 viking210 2 Comments Incense that was lit and unattended was found to be the cause of a closet fire that occurred at about 7:15 p.m. on the fifth floor, room 5G, in Stevenson Hall Thursday. The Charleston Fire Department responded to the fire at 7:31 p.m. Mark Hudson, the director of university Housing and Dining, said the heat from the fire, which damaged a corner of the closet, activated the sprinkler system and “quickly” doused the flames. Having candles, incense and any other open flames goes against housing policy, Hudson said. “There is minor damage to the room from the fire, but the water sprinklers going on caused additional issues in the building,” said Hudson. Hudson said other suites got wet from the system but were cleaned by the building service workers, and electricians came to replace smoke detectors in the room with fire damage and others affected by water. Those who lived in the room affected by the fire were all moved to a different suite within the building. Hudson said the student who caused the fire came forward, but he was not able to release the student’s name yet because of everything still being a part of the overall investigation. The student responsible for the fire will face disciplinary action from the university. “It’s a very serious situation because it’s safety violation; they went against the rules of the building in terms of its fire safety,” Hudson said. Hudson said the damage cost of the fire and water was uncertain, but the building is fully open to students except for the room where the fire occurred. Students that were evacuated from the building were not allowed to enter until 10:45 p.m. and those who were eating during the time of the fire were given meal credit, said Hudson.
Apartment Building, Residential Rockford, IL – Electrical fire at apartment complex limited by sprinkler system July 26, 2015 viking210 An electrical fire damaged a Northwest Rockford apartment complex. It started shortly after 4pm Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Apartments in the 3700 block of Trilling Avenue. Investigators say that an electrical problem sparked a mattress that set fire in a lower level unit. According to the District Chief the apartment had a working sprinkler system that kept the fire from spreading. No one was hurt but one person has been displaced.
Apartment Building, Residential DeKalb, IL – Sprinkler system keeps flames from spreading in apartment fire July 20, 2015 viking210 The DeKalb Fire Department responded to an apartment fire at 832 Ridge Drive in DeKalb at 11:09 a.m. Saturday. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, said Jeff McMaster, deputy fire chief, later that afternoon. “When firefighters got there, there was a light smoke coming from the bathroom,” McMaster said. “When they got in, the sprinklers were on.” The sprinkler system had kept the flames contained and the firefighters were able to put the rest out upon arrival, McMaster said. No one was home at the time, McMaster said. A neighbor had seen the smoke, heard the apartment’s fire alarm and made the call. There were no injuries, McMaster said. He estimated the damage at about $5,000.
College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential, Residential High Rise Champaign, IL – Sprinklers control fire in campus high-rise apartment building June 29, 2015 viking210 Nobody was hurt in an apartment fire Sunday night at a campus high-rise. Champaign Fire Marshal John Koller said firefighters were called to a blaze at the Tower at Third, 302 E. John St. at 9:22 p.m. By the time firefighters arrived, the sprinkler system was already controlling the fire, which was limited to a single apartment on the third floor. However, smoke had spread throughout the floor. There was moderate smoke in the apartment and light smoke on the rest of the floor. The residents were evacuated to the lobby on the first floor while firefighters tackled the blaze. A resident of the apartment told firefighters he had had some problems with a refrigerator in the apartment, but it was too soon to determine a cause on Sunday night. Koller said investigators would be looking into the cause late Sunday night and early Monday morning. Koller said the fire was under control by 9:40 p.m.
Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant Fairview Heights, IL – Sprinklers contain early morning fire at popular restaurant June 26, 2015 viking210 Lotawata Creek, a popular Fairview Heights restaurant, was damaged in a fire Saturday morning, Fairview Heights firefighters said. Chief Bryan Doyle of the Fairview Heights Fire Department said they got the alarm call just before 7 a.m. He also said they were flooded with 9-1-1 calls from the hotel nearby when smoke started coming out of the building. Doyle said the security footage showed the fire burning for about an hour before the alarm went off. Additional fire departments — Collinsville, O’Fallon and French Village — were called in to assist on the fire when it reached the ceiling of the restaurant . Doyle said the sprinkler system was what kept the building from being a total loss. He said he thought the building would be able to open anywhere from two to four weeks. Doyle called for the Illinois Fire Marshal to investigate the fire to find a cause for the insurance company, he said there was no foul play suspected.
Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing, Other Business East Moline, IL – Fire at uniform services business extinguished by sprinkler system June 4, 2015 viking210 A fire at a uniform services company is out thanks, in part, to the building sprinkler system. The fire broke out just before 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, 2015, at the Aramark Uniform Services building on Avenue of the Cities. East Moline fire crews say an air compressor caught fire at the back of the building. While the sprinkler system put out any flames, firefighters on scene dealt with heavy smoke. Officials say no one was hurt, but crews are estimating thousands of dollars in damage. The Battalion Chief says a mechanical malfunction is most likely to blame for the fire, but it’s still under investigation.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Oswego, IL – Sprinkler system controls fire caused by high school science experiment May 20, 2015 viking210 The Oswego Fire Protection District was called to Oswego East High School on a waterflow alarm this morning after a science experiment involving a bunsen burner and alcohol caused a small fire. The fire caused the system sprinkler to activate and the school was evacuated. Crews found no fire upon arrival and the water sprinkler system was shut down. The building alarm was going off and several attempts to reset the alarm were unsuccessful. The students were out of the building for approximately 50 minutes while attempts to reset the alarm were unsuccessful. The OFPD found the alarm system to have a mechanical issue. This was the cause for the extended time for the staff and students being out of the building for such a long period of time. After the alarm problem was identified and corrected the students and staff were allowed to resume the normal school day.
Other / Not Specified, Other Business Champaign, IL – Potentially dangerous laboratory fire held in check by sprinkler system May 19, 2015 viking210 The fire marshal said the cause of a fire in a research building on Champaign’s north side was accidental. John Koller said firefighters were called to Obiter Research, 2809 Gemini Court, at 3:07 p.m. Monday. The company specializes in custom contract chemical research and manufacturing of difficult or complex chemical compounds. “When we got to the building, there wasn’t any fire showing,” Koller said. “The sprinkler system kept the fire in check. We soon found a small amount of fire and mostly smoke.” Koller said the smoke was limited to one lab room that was walled off from the rest of the building. “There was an alcohol-based substance in the lab that a spark got to and ignited it,” he said. He said firefighters had the blaze under control within minutes. “There was no structural damage to the building,” he said. All employees were evacuated. “We had worked with them on an emergency plan in the past, and the employees effectively carried it out,” Koller said. According to Koller, one man who was in the room where the spark ignited was “shaken up” and checked by paramedics at the scene, but the man did not need to go to the hospital. No firefighters were injured, he said.
