Tag Archives: Massachusetts

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Amherst, MA – Fire at Eric Carle Museum is extinguished by sprinkler system; Damage contained to water heater closet

The water heater closet at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book art Tuesday caught fire but was doused by the sprinkler system before the fire spread to the museum. Fire Chief Tim Nelson said combustibles like plastic buckets and brooms were stored around the heater, which shorted out and then the combustibles caught fire.

“It’s a good thing the sprinkler head was in the closet,” Nelson said. He said people forget that a water heater closet is for the heater, not general storage. He said the museum was allowed to reopen to staff and that fire crews got most of the smoke out, however, he said the smell of burnt plastic lingered.

According to the museum’s Facebook page, the museum is closed for the day. The heater will need to be replaced, Nelson said. “The sprinkler did what it was supposed to do,” Nelson said. “If they followed good housekeeping practices, we wouldn’t have been there at all.”

Apartment Building, Residential, Residential High Rise

North Adams, MA – Cooking fire in 7th floor apartment quickly put out by sprinkler system

Firefighters evacuated some residents from the high rise on Friday afternoon after a small cooking fire broke out on the 7th floor. Fire Director Stephen Meranti said the fire was quickly put out by the sprinkler system.

“Right now we are evacuating because of smoke and water. We do have water all the way from the seventh floor all the way down,” Meranti said. “We are checking apartments as we go down through, but the sprinkler system did its job.”  Meranti said no one was injured.

The Fire Department was alerted to the situation at about 12:30 p.m., when an alarm was activated in a unit at the Ashland Park Apartments. Scanner reports indicated water was “pouring down the hallways” in the Housing Authority building.

Residents clustered in the community room on the ground floor until being allowed back into their homes. Executive Director Jennifer Hohn said a few units below the seventh-floor apartment were affected.

“A significant amount of water from the sprinklers has entered the units directly below on all floors,” she said. “As a result of water seeping into electrical panels, power to these affected units has been shut off.”

Hohn said the Holiday Inn was gracious to offer accommodations and a meal for those residents affected by the fire and its containment.

 

“There is a chance the power will not be restored by the evening so I have reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn for anybody needing accommodations,” she said. “I will update the board when a further assessment of the damage is concluded.

 

“The important thing is nobody was injured.”

 

Police and North Adams Ambulance Service also responded; Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Police assisted with traffic control as Ashland Street was restricted to one lane.

 

The incident is under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Westford, MA – Sprinkler system puts out apartment fire before it can spread

A fire was reported at a three-story apartment building on 3000 Princeton Way in Westford at 11:46 a.m. on Oct. 20. “Our investigators are there, but there isn’t a cause yet,” said Westford Fire Department Shift Captain David O’Keefe.

The fire occurred in a second floor single bedroom, but the building’s sprinkler system put out the fire before it spread. The Westford Fire Department had to call for mutual aid from surrounding towns because the department’s ladder truck is out of service, according to O’Keefe.

“Unfortunately, our ladder truck is out for servicing, so we had to call the Chelmsford ladder truck,” O’Keefe said. However, the Chelmsford ladder truck was not needed before it even arrived. “At that point, the fire was already knocked down,” O’Keefe said. “The sprinklers put it out.”

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Fitchburg, MA – Recycling plant fire contained by sprinkler system

Crews returning from a box alarm call noticed smoke pouring out of AKS Recycling and reacted quickly, extinguishing a fire in the Cobbler Dr. building early Sunday morning.

Fire fighters were on the way back to the station after checking in on an alarm at Steel-Fab on Crawford St. just before 6 a.m. when they saw smoke coming from AKS Recycling, according to Deputy Chief Dave Gravel. The building’s sprinkler system had activated, containing the fire and keeping it from spreading, he said.

With crews immediately at the scene, the fire was put out without any injuries. There has been no determination on what caused the fire at the recycling plant, but Gravel says it’s not believed to be suspicious.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Marlborough, MA – Fire at Marriott Courtyard halted by sprinkler system

The Marriott Courtyard hotel on 75 Felton St. suffered heavy water damage Sunday after a dryer fire set off the sprinkler alarm system, said Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Gogan. According to Gogan, firefighters responded to the alarm at 2:11 p.m. and had cleared the scene by 3:30 p.m. A small fire began suddenly in the back of a dryer, and the resulting smoke set off the hotel’s sprinkler system.

“The fire was held in check by the sprinkler system,” Gogan said. “There was minimal smoke and fire damage but significant water damage to the basement of the hotel.” There are currently no cost estimates on the damage.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Orleans, MA – Sprinklers assist firefighters in controlling challenging recycling plant fire

Firefighters from the Lower Cape and Mid-Cape areas were tied up for hours after a pile of mattresses caught fire inside a recycling plant Saturday.

Around 1 p.m., rescuers responded to the Daniels Recycling Center building on Giddiah Hill Road after employees at the plant unsuccessfully tried to squelch the nearly ceiling-high pile of mattresses set to be recycled, Orleans Fire Chief Anthony Pike said.

The cause of the two-alarm fire was unknown, Pike added.  Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus entered the warehouse and mostly knocked down the fire, which didn’t appear to damage the building, Pike said.

But because the mattresses and other debris were so compact, workers from the plant took front-end loaders and pulled pile after pile of the debris out of the building to the edge of the plant’s parking lot to be hosed down, Orleans Deputy Chief Geof Deering said.

The Red Cross was on scene with drinks and snacks for the rescuers, and one firefighter was being evaluated for exhaustion, Dennis Deputy Chief Robert Brown said.

The sprinkler system in the warehouse worked to help keep the fire from spreading, Pike said. Fire crews from Dennis, Eastham, Brewster, and Harwich aided Orleans at the scene. Crews from as far as Yarmouth were called in to cover the responding departments’ empty fire stations.

 

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Nantucket, MA – Sprinkler system helps knock down landfill fire

A construction debris fire this morning at the town landfill was slowed by a new sprinkler system, Nantucket Fire Chief Mark McDougal said.

“Having a system that activated right away saved us a lot of time and effort,” McDougal said.

Fires at the town landfill have, in the past, taken hours and even days to douse but a new building for the construction and building debris that included the sprinkler system made a big difference, he said.

“This wasn’t a big one,” McDougal said about the fire. No one was injured.

The fire department was called at around 9 a.m. to the town property at 188 Madaket Road, McDougal said. The fire started in the far right corner of the building, and the cause has not yet been determined, he said. Possible causes include oily rags, discarded smoking materials or internal combustion, he said.

The fire department was on the scene for two and one-half hours.

Auto Dealership, Retail

Worcester, MA – Sprinklers knock down vehicle fire at auto dealership

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Department Reported ***  A vehicle caught fire inside a dealership auto body shop at 29 Glennie Street in Worcester, MA on June 17, 2015. The building’s sprinkler system contained the fire to the vehicle of origin.

Companies arrived to find smoke coming from the eaves of a building. Firefighters forced their way into the building and found a car on fire inside an auto shop garage. The fire was knocked down by the sprinkler system, and Worcester Fire Department ventilated and checked for further extension.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Springfield, MA – Recycling center fire kept from spreading by sprinkler system

City firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze at a Waste Management facility in East Springfield Thursday night. There were no injuries or major damage tied to the fire, which was reported at 8:17 p.m. at the automated material handling recycling center at 203 Tremont St.

“It ends up being a giant trash fire,” said Dennis G. Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph A. Conant. The facility’s sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading until crews arrived to extinguish the blaze, he said.

The fire wasn’t suspicious. It apparently began when a spark from a shredding operation at the recycling center ignited a bale of trash, Leger said.