Tag Archives: Indiana

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Crawfordsville, IN – Sprinkler System put out fire at old high school entrance

A small fire at the southeast entrance to the former Crawfordsville High School on Jefferson Street was quickly extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system Thursday morning.

Damage to the former school, now a residential apartment building called Laurel Flats, was limited to the door itself and did not spread, Fire Chief Scott Busenbark said.

“It just damaged the door that was leaning on it,” Busenbark said. “We had Station 1 and Station 2 on the scene … an alarm like that always gets a full response.”

The fire threatened the gymnasium section of the 110-year-old building, which was added as an expansion to the original building in 1941.

No injuries were reported and the entryway suffered only minor damage due to the sprinkler system.

“It put it out on its own,” Busenbark said.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Officers from the Crawfordsville Police Department assisted at the scene.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Ferdinand, IN – Sprinkler System helps put out fire from malfunctioning compressor; No injuries reported

Units of the Ferdinand Volunteer Fire Department responded late Monday night to the report of an explosion and heavy smoke showing at a business location on West Eighth Street.

Fire Chief John Hoppenjans said the first arriving units answering the 11:16 p.m. callout determined the explosion and resulting fire was contained in the air compressor room at Leibering Lumber, 514 W. Eighth St.

Hoppenjans said a 50-horsepower compressor had malfunctioned and exploded, blowing open the doors of its cabinet and touching off a fire that was coming out the eaves of the building housing the unit. A nightwatchman reported the issue to authorities.

A sprinkler system activated and did its job, Hoppenjans said, and firefighters followed up by shutting off the electricity to the building, extinguishing hot spots and ventilating the space.

The compressor was a total loss, but the building just sustained charring to rafters and can be repaired.

Five trucks and 26 firefighters were on the scene 90 minutes.

The Ferdinand Police Department and Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services assisted.

There were no injuries.

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Storage / Warehouse

Elkhart, IN – Sprinkler system contains fire after coach bus catches fire inside building; No injuries reported

Elkhart Fire Department responded to a fire inside the former Forest River plant at 914 CR 1, Elkhart on Monday afternoon.

A bus was on fire inside the plant, which Elkhart Coach moved into just three weeks ago. The fire department had to stretch about 200 feet of hose line to reach the building.

The fire was reported out around 4:30 p.m. No one was injured and employees were evacuated safely.

Dispatch confirms that the bus caught fire inside building, but no units inside were damaged. The sprinkler system contained the fire and firefighters put it out.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Jeffersonville, IN – Electrical malfunction fire at brewery controlled by fire sprinklers

Goodwood Brewing is working to rebuild after a fire damaged the building where they planned to open a new restaurant on March 8. 

The Jeffersonville Fire Department says they believe the flames on Friday were sparked by an electrical malfunction. 

Firefighters were able to contain the fire quickly, and say it was the well-trained crew and a working sprinkler system that saved the building, which dates back to 1870.

Even though the historic building is still standing, there’s a lot of work to be done. 

“You can smell the smoke,” said James Corbin, the director of operations for Goodwood Brewing, as he stepped into the building on Monday. 

The fire was contained on the third floor, but the first and second floor have water damage. 

Corbin was in the building when it caught fire. He said watching those flames was a “helpless feeling.”

“All I could think about was this is going to push back our opening a little bit,” he said. 

He’d planned a multilevel entertainment complex in the building along Spring Street. He says he was prepared for the challenges of launching a business in a building that old. 

“When you go into things like this, you prepare for the worst, you hope for the best,” he said. “You don’t prepare yourself for a fire. That’s something that I would have never prepared myself for.”

After three days he says he’s still struggling with the sight. 

“Coming back up and seeing it like this, it’s kind of a punch in the gut,” said Corbin. “It slows us down a little bit but we will rebuild and we’ll come back stronger than ever.”

He’s still waiting on insurance assessments to know for sure, but hopes to open soon. 

“I would like to be open by June 1, but I don’t know if that’s going to be feasible or not,” he said. “The goal is to rebuild and get this open as soon as possible.”

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

West Lafayette, IN – Fire sprinklers control fifth floor dorm room fire at Purdue University

When Hawkins residents were roused by the blaring fire alarms Jan. 23 at 2:43 a.m., most assumed it was a badly timed drill.

The residents on the east wing of the fifth floor saw the smoke.

A resident’s reverse osmosis water filter had caught fire. Its owner was not in the room at the time, and the sprinklers were able to contain the small fire. No residents were harmed, but the lasting flooding left many of their belongings damaged. The student declined to comment.

Hannah MacLean, a freshman in the College of Science, was one of the other residents on the east wing of the fifth floor, just five or six doors down from room where the fire started.

“I didn’t really take it that seriously (at first),” MacLean said. “I kind of took my time. … Then I open my door, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I see smoke,’ and then I kinda panicked.”

MacLean said most of the residents were out of the building by 2:45 a.m.

By the time the fire truck arrived, the fire had been contained, though there was still smoke present, according to Purdue Fire Chief Kevin Ply.

“(The fire) was completely accidental, and the sprinklers worked just as they were designed to work,” Ply said.

According to MacLean, there was water coming from the door across from the room where the fire started, but Ply explained that only the sprinkler in that room went off because of their design.

“(The sprinkler) reaches a predetermined temperature and then that sprinkler head pops, and so when that happens, water comes out of the sprinkler at roughly 30-35 gallons per minute,” Ply said.

When the fire department arrived, they had to turn off the sprinkler system, which is why there was so much flooding, Ply said.

Purdue spokesperson Tim Doty said via email because of the sprinkler system, some rooms will be offline for the rest of the semester and affected students have been offered temporary housing or new housing assignments within University Residences.

The residents were not allowed back into the building until around 4 a.m., according to MacLean. The fifth-floor residents were told they had to find a different place to stay for the night, but many other Hawkins residents offered to host them.

MacLean stayed with her friend, Maya Radjenovich, a freshman in the College of Health and Human Sciences.

“A lot of girls seemed to be really understanding and open to allowing people to spend the night with them,” Radjenovich said. “It was actually really sweet to see.”

The next night, fifth-floor residents still weren’t able to return to their rooms. Hawkins offered temporary housing to any residents who weren’t able to find a place to stay with another resident and escorted those who wanted to get any belongings from their rooms.

The fifth-floor residents weren’t allowed back into their rooms until Friday at 5 p.m., according to MacLean.

“As you can see, my books are all water-damaged,” she said, brandishing her wrinkled notebooks. “Luckily, my stuff didn’t get too damaged.”

MacLean said the maintenance workers worked hard to clean residents’ rugs, shoes and any other objects they could launder, but many girls’ belongings were too water-damaged to be reclaimed. When MacLean moved back in, there were still large fans running in an attempt to dry everything off.

“For the girls whose stuff that was damaged that needs to be replaced, I know they’re filing a report,” Mac Lean said.

Wednesday morning, residents received an email saying that Hawkins would not be reimbursing residents for any damages sustained due to the flooding.

“We are unable to assist with your request of reimbursement for damages to student owned clothing and furnishings,” the email read. They suggested reaching out to insurance companies and apologized for the unfortunate circumstances.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Fort Wayne, IN – Fire sprinklers keep fire at elementary school from spreading on Christmas day

Firefighters are looking into the cause of a fire that broke out in a classroom Christmas Day.

Firefighters respond to a classroom fire at Horace Mann Elementary School in Huntington.

The flames sparked Wednesday morning at Horace Mann Elementary School on Waterworks Road.

Huntington Fire Chief Tony Johnson told our journalist on the scene that the flames were contained to one classroom. The sprinkler system activated and kept the fire from spreading. However, there is significant water and smoke damage to the classroom.

Due to the holiday break, there were no students or teachers in the building at the time.

Apartment Building, Residential

Evansville, IN – Sprinkler system contains apartment fire thought to be arson

Early this morning, a fire call came in to dispatch.

The caller said someone had been set a fire outside an apartment on the 5th floor of Grandview Towers.

The sprinkler system went off and helped contain the fire until vcrews could make it upstairs and put it out.

Then about 20 minutes later, other crews were called to the Crossings Apartments, just a few blocks away, for another fire.

It was darkened down quickly as police became involved in the investigation.

Investigators believe both fires were deliberately set by the same person, and they are developing clues.

Grandview Towers has been in the news this week for elevators that do not work, where wheel-chair bound tenants on the 10th floor have no way down.

It’s unclear whether the elevators were working at the time of the fire.

This is a developing story…

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Franklin, IN – Fire at local business contained to storage room thanks to fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A business in Franklin’s commercial district sustained damage in a Sunday night fire.

Franklin firefighters were dispatched to BCC Products, 2140 Earlywood Drive, on a general business alarm at 5:26 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they could not see any fire from the outside of the business, said Chuck Ridpath, spokesman for the Franklin Fire Department.

Firefighters got into the building and saw heavy smoke. After about 30 minutes of searching the building for the fire, firefighters were led to a wire rack where a gallon container of liquid was on fire, Ridpath said.

The sprinkler system in the building contained the fire to the storage room, he said, and once fire fighters located the fire, it was put out in minutes.

No one was injured in the blaze and investigators are still looking into the exact cause of the fire. The monetary damage of the fire was unknown mid-Monday morning, Ridpath said.

Greenwood’s hazmat team was called to contain chemicals that had spilled. The Indiana Department of Emergency Management is investigating what chemicals leaked, because firefighters came into contact with those chemicals, he said.

“There is no danger to the public. It is more of the guys that were there to see if there is anything that can be bad for them,” Ridpath said.

Firefighters from Bargersville, Whiteland, New Whitehead and Amity also responded to the fire. Firefighters from Needham covered Franklin’s station during the fire, he said.

Office Building, Other Business

Elkhart, IN – Fire sprinkler activation helps control fire started by laminating machine

A laminating machine caused a fire at an Elkhart business early Wednesday morning, according to the Elkhart Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to a fire at Interior Components Plus in the 2300 block of W. Mishawaka Road on Wednesday morning around 4 a.m.

At the scene, firefighters reported seeing heavy smoke in the area and throughout the building.

Workers on site told firefighters that a glue laminating machine had caught fire and set off a sprinkler.

Attempts made by workers to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful.

After putting out the fire, officials found that the fire was caused by a malfunction in the laminating machine which overheated oil, causing it to ignite, the fire department said.

The company was able to continue normal operations on Wednesday.

The fire department did not say whether or not there were any injuries sustained in the fire.

Apartment Building, Residential

Indianapolis, IN – Cooking fire contained by fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Fire in a high-rise apartment building displaced several residents Thursday evening, at least temporarily.

Around 8 p.m., a cooking fire was reported in a fifth-floor apartments at Crooked Creek Towers, 7988 Michigan Road.

The fire caused an automatic sprinkler system to activate. The high-pressure spray led to extensive flooding throughout the apartment and the rest of the fifth floor.

An evacuation ensued, and medical personnel transported two residents to be checked for what appeared to be minor injuries or anxiety.

There were no other injuries.

Indianapolis Fire Department personnel remain at the scene and hope to have everyone back in their homes tonight.