Tag Archives: Indiana

Department Store, Retail

Bedford, IN – Sprinkler system helps protect Farm and Home store from fire damage

Firefighters were able to extinguish a fire at Orscheln Farm and Home on Ind. 37 within minutes of arriving Sunday afternoon.

Firefighters from Marion, Shawswick and Oolitic Volunteer Fire Departments were called to the business at 1:31 p.m.

According to Marion VFD Chief Jason Zeeks, the fire started outside on the south side of the building after some paper on plastic stock tanks for water caught on fire.

The fire then moved inside the business, setting off the sprinkler system.

Zeeks says no one was injured and there was little fire damage done to building, but smoke and water did cause minor damage to some contents of the store.

Firefighters from Shawswick and Oolitic VFDs assisted Marion VFD firefighters with cleaning up the water and ventilated the building of smoke.

Orscheln was able to re-open for business Sunday afternoon.

Other - Residential, Residential

Terre Haute, IN – Fire at homeless shelter extinguished with help from sprinkler system

Officials are investigating an apparent arson after an early morning fire broke out at a Terre Haute homeless shelter. The fire started just before 6 a.m. at the Conners Center on 13th Street. The center, also known as Gary’s Place, is a shelter for women and children.

Kristina Stuff recalls waking up to billowing smoke and several women in the building who were shouting fire. “I thought it was the moment. I was petrified.”

The building is made up of three floors, and three floors up Stuff and her elderly mother were trapped by the overwhelming smoke. Stuff tried to get out but was unable to carry her mother through the smoke. “It didn’t matter what kind of evacuation plan we had it was just too much,” said Stuff as she describes trying to escape.

In that moment stuff recalls feeling helpless, “So I took us back in, soaked down towels and put it on her face, and prayed to God.” It wasn’t long before relief arrived. With the help of the Terre Haute Fire Department all of the residents inside the building got out safely. Stuff and her mother were rescued and treated for smoke inhalation, while the others escaped without injury.

“We don’t like what the future holds for us, but we are alive,” said Stuff.

Terre Haute Fire Chief, Jeff Fischer tells News 10 the fire started in the basement next to the soda machine. It appeared the sprinkler system aided in putting out the flames, but the black smoke continued to cause extensive damage to the second and third floors. “So that means cleaning everything, and taking care of that, and trying to get the smell out,” explained Rev. Timothy Fagg, CEO of the Lighthouse Mission.

The fire is being investigated as arson. Fire officials found evidence of poured gasoline close to the soda machine. “Every dollar we get goes to take care of the homeless here in the Wabash Valley, and when’s there’s something like this it’s difficult for us,” said Rev. Fagg.

All 14 residents are displaced while clean-up takes place. “This is it. This is all we got. We don’t have anywhere else to go,” said Stuff. Rev. Fagg said the residents will be offered a bed at the Lighthouse Mission until repairs are made. The shelter is looking for volunteers to help with cleaning and painting.

The Terre Haute Police Department is spending the day interviewing those at the shelter. The investigation into who started the fire is still on-going.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Huntingburg, IN – Sprinklers help limit damage in fire at sawdust storage building

The Huntingburg Volunteer Fire Department was called Saturday morning to the report of a fire in OFS Plant No. 18’s sawdust storage facility.

Department spokesman John C. Smith said, given a similar incident eight years ago, he braced for the worst and quickly called for manpower assistance from the Holland Volunteer Fire Department.

On July 6, 2007, a similar fire in the then-60-by-120 sawdust storage building behind the plant kept firefighters busy for 14 hours, Smith said. But, he added, that building has been replaced by a new one with a sprinkler system. And it was that sprinkler system that curtailed damage after Saturday’s 8:58 a.m. call by activating and extinguishing the main body of the fire, Smith said.

The fire’s cause was attributed to a mechanical failure in an auger system used to move sawdust into the building, according to Smith.

Large front-end loaders supplied by Brewer Farms Inc., Huntingburg, were used to take sawdust out of the building so firefighters could access the area where the fire started.

Smith said there was no appreciable damage to the building.

Huntingburg’s department was on the scene with four trucks and 13 firefighters for five hours. Holland’s department responded with 10 firefighters. While four worked alongside Huntingburg firefighters for the duration, Smith said, others were released throughout the morning as conditions allowed.

OFS personnel assisted with sawdust removal and a Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services ambulance was on standby at the scene. Members of the Huntingburg Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary were on hand to provide food and drinks for those extinguishing the smoldering sawdust.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Evansville, IN – Sprinkler system helps to contain fire at industrial building

Firefighters Wednesday responded to a roof fire in part of the former Whirlpool building on U.S. 41 North now used as a warehouse.

Investigator Richard Howard said the alarm came in at 11:30 a.m. and when the first firefighters arrived two minutes later, there was heavy smoke coming from the roof area and some smoke from inside the building. Nobody was hurt in the fire and building sprinklers functioned normally.

The portion of the building where the fire occurred is used by GAF Materials Corporation to store asphalt shingles and other roofing products, Howard said. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

“The reports that we got from the people inside were that they had been smelling smoke for about an hour but they couldn’t locate the source,” Howard said. “They heard a pop and when they looked up it was the sprinkler head kicking off and that’s when they actually saw fire in upper portions of the building in the roof area.”

“They evacuated the building and called us. So, we do know that we have an operating sprinkler system inside. We are assuming right now that it helped suppress the fire, keep it under control until we could mop up,” Howard said. Howard said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

“I know that we had an incident here last week that was electrical in nature. I can tell you that is one thing I will be looking at but we also had a report that there was a crew on the roof up above that was on the roof working. So I have to find out if they were in that area and what they were doing,” Howard said.

Workers were able to go back inside Wednesday afternoon. “The building hasn’t been destroyed or anything,” he said. “There is smoke damage throughout the building and it was even forced into other areas besides their area,” Howard said. However, he said the industrial steel construction of the building made structural damage unlikely.

Whirlpool shut down refrigerator production at the Evansville plant in June 2010. The manufacturer maintained its refrigeration product design center at the site for a few years before announcing it would move that work to its Benton Harbor, Michigan headquarters. The last Whirlpool employees vacated the Evansville site in 2014.

Evansville developer The Kunkel Group acquired the Whirlpool building in 2011, rebranding it as a multi-tenant industrial park known as Park 41.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Fort Wayne, IN – Sprinkler system douses fire at truck repair business

A fire Friday evening at a large truck repair business kept the Fort Wayne Fire Department busy. The fire department got an alarm about 7:15 p.m. at Power Train HD America at 3415 Conestoga Drive in northwest Fort Wayne and arrived to find smoke coming from the building.

Firefighters forced open an entry door and also opened an overhead bay door to ventilate smoke from throughout the building, according to the fire department. A large dump truck was on fire in a service bay, which set off the alarm.

The business’ sprinkler system helped keep the fire contained, but it still took firefighters 35 minutes to get the fire under control, the department said. Fuel from the truck was contained with absorbent equipment. The cause of the fire remained under investigation Friday night. No injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Muncie, IN – Sprinkler systems helps extinguish fire in loft apartment building

Terry Moore, Muncie Fire Department battalion chief, said a woman was in the process of moving her mother into an apartment on the seventh (and top) floor of the former Roberts Hotel when she placed a bag of clothing on the stove — and apparently accidentally turned on a burner.  The resulting fire was for the most part extinguished by a ceiling sprinkler.  Fire damage was minimal.

“The sprinkler did what it is supposed to do,” the battalion chief said. A few tenants, some in wheelchairs, stayed outside the building for several minutes.

Apartment Building, Residential

West Lafayette, IN – Sprinkler system activates to control overnight fire at Purdue University off-campus apartment building

West Lafayette Fire Chief Tim Heath said the fire broke out above a trash receptacle on the third floor. The heat from the fire caused one sprinkler head to start spraying.  Fuse Apartment management said the damage to the apartments is minimal and will be repaired as students are out this week for Thanksgiving break.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fire at automotive components manufacturer contained by sprinklers (Greencastle, IN)

Local fire crews were called to the scene of a fire Friday evening at Heartland Automotive. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene to reports of heavy smoke at 9:36 p.m.  Greencastle Fire Chief Bill Newgent told the Banner Graphic the blaze originated in the facility’s paint room. The sprinkler system in the area contained the fire until firefighters arrived to extinguish it completely. No cause has been determined.

Apartment Building, Residential

Apartment balcony fire extinguished by sprinklers (Columbus, IN)

A second-floor balcony at Riverstone Apartments was damaged after discarded smoking materials in a plastic container ignited a wooden flower box, Columbus firefighters said. The fire was reported at about 5 p.m., fire investigator Matt Noblitt said. The apartment’s sprinkler system immediately kicked on, dousing the fire and preventing damage, Noblitt said. The fire was out when firefighters arrived.