Tag Archives: Maryland

Residential, Residential High Rise

Hagerstown, MD – Trash chute fire in high-rise complex for elderly and disabled residents extinguished by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

Smoke from a fire in a trash chute drove residents of Potomac Towers from their apartments Wednesday night, but no one was hurt and there was no serious damage to the building, authorities said.

The cause of the fire at the complex on West Baltimore Street in Hagerstown is under investigation, city Fire Marshal Doug DeHaven said.

Several residents who were exposed to smoke were evaluated at the scene by Community Rescue Service, but none required treatment, according to DeHaven and Hagerstown Fire Department Battalion Chief Adam Hopkins.

The complex consists of two connected, high-rise buildings that provide housing for elderly and disabled residents. The 14-story Potomac Towers North has 200 apartments and the eight-story Potomac Towers South has 126 units, according to the Hagerstown Housing Authority website.

Smoke was reported in the upper floors of the larger building around 8:20 p.m. and an alarm monitoring company reported smoke detectors activating on the seventh and 12th floors. Firefighters arrived to find smoke throughout the building, DeHaven said.

Trash stuck in the chute around the fifth floor was burning, but the sprinkler system in the chute activated and the debris slid down into the bin and compactor in the basement, he said.

“The sprinkler did its job and kept it as a contained fire that we were able to deal with quickly,” Hopkins said. “We would have had a much larger fire in the basement and a more significant smoke condition throughout the building.”

Firefighters extinguished the burning debris in the basement in about 10 to 15 minutes, he said, but were on the scene for a total of about two hours cleaning up water on the third and fifth floors and venting smoke from the building.

Some residents evacuated and others were permitted to go out onto their balconies to get away from the smoke, Hopkins said.

He estimated one group of about 25 people evacuated on one side of the building, and a group of about 40 people exited to the other side.

“We had a significant number of occupants who were affected by this fire,” DeHaven said.

Fire doors between the two buildings were closed, and the smaller building was not affected, Hopkins said.

DeHaven said damage was contained to the trash chute, compactor and bin, and water in the basement flowed into floor drains.

Responding with the Hagerstown Fire Department and Community Rescue Service were units from Funkstown Volunteer Fire Co.,  Halfway Volunteer Fire Co., Longmeadow Volunteer Fire Co., Maugansville Goodwill Volunteer Fire Co., Leitersburg Volunteer Fire Co. and the Washington County Special Operations and Emergency Air units, Hopkins said.

Residential, Single Family Home

Middle River, MD – House fire contained by fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Crews are on the scene of a Monday night house fire in Middle River.

The fire was reported at around 10 p.m. in the 900-block of Manorgreen Road (21220).

Arriving units found that a fire had begun in the kitchen of the house.

The home’s sprinkler system had mostly extinguished the blaze by the time firefighters arrived on scene.

No injuries have been reported at this time.

Apartment Building, Residential

La Planta, MD – Microwave fire at apartment complex kept under control by fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

On Saturday, September 7, 2019, at approximately 12:45 p.m., firefighters from La Plata and surrounding departments responded to 600 Edelen Station Place in La Plata, for the reported structure fire.

Crews arrived on the scene to a 3-story apartment complex with nothing evident. Upon further investigation, firefighters found a microwave on fire in the kitchen with extensions to the surrounding wall.

Firefighters reported the sprinkler systems kept the fire under control with minimal damage to the residence.

All photos are courtesy of the La Plata Volunteer Fire Department, and The Charles County Volunteer Fire and Emergency Medical Services. http://www.ccvfireems.org/

No injuries were reported.

Residential, Single Family Home

Mechanicsville, MD – Fire sprinkler system allows homeowner and pet to escape after lightning sets home on fire; No injuries reported

Lightning is to blame for a fire that severely damaged a home on Dixie Lyon Road in Mechanicsville on Tuesday evening.

Just after 5 p.m., a lightning strike to the exterior of the home started a fire. A passerby reported the fire.

Fortunately, both the smoke alarm and the sprinkler system went off and the homeowner and a family pet were able to escape without injuries. The occupant is currently being helped by the Red Cross.

Thirty firefighters from the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department were able to get the fire extinguished within 30 minutes.

The two-story home suffered $75,000 in damage and an estimated $25,000 in contents were lost.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Ocean City, MD – Single fire sprinkler extinguishes fire at hotel restaurant, minimizing fire damage

A properly functioning sprinkler system is being credited this week for saving a restaurant in a beachfront hotel early Tuesday morning.

Around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, the Ocean City Fire Department (OCFD) was dispatched to a fire alarm activation indicating a fire sprinkler waterflow at the Castle in the Sand Hotel. While firefighters were responding to the initial call, a second call came in minutes later from hotel staff advising they had investigated the source of the fire alarm activation and could see fire burning in a restaurant in the basement of the lodging establishment.

When firefighters arrived, they found the alarm system sounding and the hotel occupants evacuating. Hotel staff directed OCFD responders to the basement where they found a single fire sprinkler had discharged and extinguished the fire, limiting damage to a small area in the rear of the restaurant. Ocean City Fire Marshal David Hartley credited the hotel’s working and updated fire suppression system for preventing further damage and potential injury.

“A properly functioning fire sprinkler system saved lives and property at the Caste in the Sand this morning,” he said on Tuesday. “The hotel’s diligence in servicing and maintaining its fire protection systems ensured that everything worked properly, which limited the damage and ensured the safe evacuation of hotel occupants.”

Once the fire was suppressed and safety was ensured, hotel occupants returned to their rooms within about 30 minutes of the initial call. The Beach House restaurant in the Castle in the Sand is expected to return to normal business following a brief cleanup.

Fire Marshal’s Office investigators have ruled the cause of the fire as accidental and attributed it to the spontaneous combustion of laundered, cooking oil-saturated cleaning rags, a scenario deemed fairly common in restaurants.

“This phenomenon is unfortunately a common occurrence in commercial kitchens,” said Hartley. We often see fires that begin due to cleaning towels that have soaked up vegetable-based cooking oils and spontaneously ignite, even after being properly washed and dried.”

As a result, the Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office is encouraging restaurant employees to minimize the likelihood of a spontaneous ignition incident by ensuring dryer cooling and tumbling cycles are utilized, towels are spread out to minimize pile sizes and also by storing clean and dirty towels in non-combustible hampers or other containers.


Apartment Building, Residential

Salisbury, MD – Sprinkler system keeps overnight fire from spreading; No injuries reported

Crews battled an overnight blaze Tuesday at Mill Pond Village Apartments that displaced 35 people and caused $500,000 in damages, according to fire officials.

A Salisbury Fire Department Facebook post shows units from Salisbury, Delmar, Hebron and Parsonsburg responded to 312 Mill Pond Lane at 1:37 a.m., arriving to find a well-advanced two-alarm blaze.

Officials said the 42 firefighters on scene were able to bring the fire under control within 45 minutes, and all building occupants were safely evacuated. There were no injuries.

A news release from the Office of the State Fire Marshal applauded the building’s fire protection features and the quick response from local firefighters for preventing large-scale property loss and loss of life.

The release shows investigators discovered the blaze was accidental and had originated from a third-floor balcony as a result of discarded smoking material. 

The investigation also determined an automatic fire sprinkler kept the fire from spreading from the balcony to the living space, the release states, and the required fire separations stopped it from preventing further damage after it accessed the attic space.

The fire has displaced 35 residents, according to the release. In total, it  caused $500,000 in damage — $400,000 to the structure and $100,000 to the tenants’ personal items.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Ellicott City, MD – Fire at assisted living facility quickly controlled with help from sprinkler system

There was an apartment fire in Ellicott City Monday at an assisted living facility, according to officials. It was quickly controlled with help from sprinklers, authorities said. Fire broke out in a second-floor apartment at Selborne House in the 5300 block of Dorsey Hall Drive, the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services reported on Monday, March 25. A sprinkler controlled the flames, and firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, officials reported; it was out by 6 p.m.

Auto Dealership, Retail

Gaithersburg, MD – Sprinkler system prevented fire from spreading at auto repair shop; No injuries reported

Two cars are left damaged after a fire started in a Gaithersburg auto repair shop.

According to the Montgomery County Fire Department, the fire broke out Thursday at about 7 am at J B Auto Repair on Rickenbacker Drive.

About 50 firefighters were on scene and found that the fire started in the engine compartment of a BMW vehicle, and extended to at least one other car.

Officials say the sprinkler system helped prevent the fire from spreading to other cars under repair inside the garage.

“Good thing it happened at the end of the shop. There were like 14 cars inside the shop, so two of them were the two last cars that got damaged. We were able to, I guess, get the issue solved early, but a lot of clean up to do,” explained J B Auto Repair owner, Jose Benitez.

Fire officials determined the cause to be accidental, but say they are aware that the BMW vehicle model does have a history of issues with fires starting in the engine area and believe that to have been the cause.

No employees or firefighters suffered injuries. 

Apartment Building, Residential

Leonardtown, MD – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire in kitchen apartment; No injuries reported

On Monday, February 4, 2019, at approximately 1:00 p.m., firefighters from Bay District, NAS Patuxent River, Valley Lee, Leonardtown, and Hollywood responded to 44890 Hunting Meadows Court in Callaway, for the reported structure fire.

Crews arrived on the scene to find nothing evident from apartment 1024.

Upon further investigation, firefighters found a slight haze of smoke in the apartment with an extinguished fire on the stove.

Firefighters advised the fire was out and secured the power and water to the residence. Units advised it was food on the stove, and all units can return to service when ready.

No injuries were reported. It is unknown if the occupants were displaced or are being assisted at this time.

Retail

Annapolis, MD – Storage room fire at nail salon contained by sprinkler system

Firefighters were called to a Safeway store on the 1700 block of Forest Drive shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, Cpt. Phil Morris said. Crews were responding to a “water flow alarm” at the grocery store, Morris said. But when firefighters arrived, they found the fire in the adjacent nail salon, Vy Nails. The fire, located in a storage room at the rear of the salon, set off a single sprinkler head, Morris said. That contained the fire, but fire crews had to use their hoses to extinguish it. No injuries were reported.