Tag Archives: Massachusetts

Apartment Building, Residential

Haverhill, MA – Sprinkler system contains fire to bedroom after item is left too close to electric heat register; No injuries reported

The Friday night blaze that displaced 14 residents was caused by items left too close to a condo unit’s electric heat register, fire Chief William Laliberty said Tuesday.

The single-alarm fire at the brick Merrimack Place apartment building behind the A-1 Deli was reported by phone around 6:30 p.m. and firefighters had the blaze under control within a half-hour. All residents were evacuated and no injuries were reported.

According to Laliberty, the building’s sprinkler system activated and contained the fire to the bedroom. While smoke from the fire made its way to the adjacent Landmark Building, firefighters were able to quickly remove the smoke using fans, the chief said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Beverly, MA – Fire sprinklers keep apartment kitchen fire from spreading; No injuries reported

Kim Douglas was at work on Wednesday night when she got a frantic phone call from her mother around midnight.

“She said, ‘The house is on fire,'” Douglas said.

Fortunately, Douglas’ 74-year-old mother and the rest of the residents of the seven-story Station 101 apartment building on Rantoul Street escaped unharmed in what Beverly Fire Department officials said could have turned into a much worse situation.

A fire that started in the kitchen of a fourth-floor apartment forced the evacuation of residents and caused about 30 of them to have to find another place to stay. A man in the apartment where the fire started was found unresponsive by firefighters in a smoke-filled bedroom, but he became alert when firefighters quickly got him outside and was seemingly uninjured, fire officials said.

Beverly fire Capt. Jeff Sirois said fire sprinklers proved effective in limiting the spread of the flames, although there was a “substantial” amount of smoke and water damage from the fourth floor to the first floor.

“In the grand scheme of things it could’ve been a lot worse if the building wasn’t sprinklered,” Sirois said.

Sirois said the cause of the fire is under investigation but might have been “cooking related.”

Firefighters were called to the building at 101 Rantoul St. at 11:45 p.m. and arrived to find the fourth-floor hallway filled with smoke from a kitchen fire in one of the apartments. Crews worked to fully extinguish the fire, which officials said had been held at bay by sprinklers.

Once the fire was out, crews ventilated the smoke and pulled ceiling tiles damaged by water on the first three floors. The Beverly Fire Department posted a fire watch overnight until the alarm system could be reactivated.

Station 101, formerly known as The Millery, has been an apartment building for decades. It has 99 one- and two-bedroom apartments and is valued at more than $10 million, according to city records. It is unclear how many people live there. Officials from Peabody Properties, which manages the building, did not return phone calls.

Douglas, 48, praised firefighters as well as the management company and the American Red Cross for their response to the fire. Douglas said the Red Cross gave residents gift cards for breakfast and hotel rooms. She and her mother spent Wednesday night in a hotel and were expected to stay one more night before returning to their apartment on Friday.

“Everybody was right on top of everything,” Douglas said.

Douglas said her apartment, which is two floors below the apartment where the fire started, had very little damage, other than wet furniture and rugs. She said there was up to two inches of water on the floor in the hallways below the fourth floor.

“For me, my mom got out,” she said. “Everything else is material stuff.” 

Auto Dealership, Retail

Lynnfield, MA – Vehicle fire at Mercedes-Benz dealership contained to vehicle by fire sprinklers

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Firefighters braved frigid conditions as they battled a vehicle fire that broke out in the showroom of a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Lynnfield early Thursday morning.

A security guard patrolling the area of Flagship Motorcars of Lynnfield on Broadway around 4 a.m. called 911 after noticing a glow coming from the front window of the building, according to Lynnfield Fire Chief Glenn Davis.

Firefighters responding to the scene found that a sprinkler system contained the flames to the vehicle but the building had been filled with smoke.

Crews dealt with freezing temperatures, which caused the parking lot to ice over.

One firefighter may have sustained a finger injury from falling on the ice but no one was transported to the hospital, Davis said.

Hours after the first fire broke out, a second vehicle parked in the lot outside the showroom started smoking and smoldering.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fires.

Apartment Building, Residential

Springfield, MA – Mattress fire on the 12th floor of apartment contained by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

The Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad is looking into what led up to a fire on the 12th floor of an apartment building.

Springfield Fire Capt. Brian Tetreault told 22News that the sprinkler system went off on the 12th floor at 414 Chestnut Street, after a burning mattress was dragged out of an apartment and into the corridor shortly before 6:00 A.M.

No one was injured in the fire.

A stretch of Carew Street near the building was briefly closed by police while firefighters worked.

Other Business, Place of Worship

Easton, MA – Fire sprinklers keep fire at bay after candles set advent wreath on fire; No injuries reported

A candle-lit wreath caught fire Monday morning, triggering an evacuation at the Museum of Family Prayer at the Father Peyton Center.

An evergreen Advent wreath, which was inside the museum’s chapel, ignited shortly after multiple candles were lit on candle holders within the center of the wreath, Fire Chief Kevin Partridge said in a press release. The wreath was located near the altar and three people were inside the chapel at the time of the fire.

The Easton Fire Department received an alarm around 11:15 a.m. and a 911 call reporting a fire inside the chapel at the museum at 518 Washington St.

Upon arrival of firefighters, the building had been evacuated and the fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system and a maintenance worker who used a fire extinguisher, according to Partridge.

No injuries were reported.

Once the fire started, the sprinkler system in the chapel activated and a maintenance worker heard people yelling about a fire and grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher to help put out the flames, Partridge said.

Firefighters arrived minutes later and shut down the sprinkler system and helped to carry wet furniture and other items out of the chapel.

The fire was contained to the wreath, but the chapel had a significant amount of water inside from the sprinkler, Partridge said. Firefighters used wet-vacs to remove as much of the water from the floor as they could before clearing the scene at approximately 12:20 p.m.

The chapel will be closed temporarily until the water can be completely dried.

“Thankfully the sprinkler system activated and kept the fire at bay and the maintenance worker sprung into action prior to our arrival,” Partridge said, “We are glad that no one was hurt and this incident should serve as a reminder that evergreen is extremely flammable and should never be kept near an open flame. Many churches use Advent wreaths this time of year, but we recommend that they use fake wreaths and keep a close eye on any candles with open flames.”

Partridge also reminded residents to regularly water their Christmas trees and to keep them away from any heat sources or open flames.

In addition, Chief Partridge would like to share some candle safety tips from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services:

Burn candles within a 1 foot circle free of anything that can burn.

Before you leave a room or the house, blow out candles. Never leave candles burning unattended.

Always extinguish candles after use.

Use a non-combustible saucer or candle holder.

Keep candles out of reach of children and pets.

To be safe, consider using flameless candles. Have flashlights and battery-powered lighting ready to use during a power outage instead of candles.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lowell, MA – Ninth-floor apartment fire doused by fire sprinkler; No injuries reported

A small fire in a ninth-floor apartment inside the River Place Towers on Thursday evening activated a sprinkler head that helped douse the fire, but which also sent water cascading down through the building to as far as the fourth floor, according to firefighters.

Deputy Chief John Dowling said crews were called to the towering building about 4:30 p.m., and discovered there was a small fire in a bedroom on the ninth floor. The cause of that blaze remains under investigation.

The blaze activated a spinkler head, which sent water flowing from the ninth floor apartment all the way down to the fourth floor, Dowling said.

Firefighters spent about an hour at the scene, with much of that time sent helping residents cover their furniture and other valuables with salvage covers to protect them from water damage.

There were no reported injuries.

Other - Residential, Residential

Fall River, MA – Sprinkler system suppresses fire caused by careless disposal of cigarette; No injuries reported

A smouldering cigarette discarded in a plastic trash can is the apparent cause of a Monday afternoon fire that briefly stalled the Fall River Veterans Day parade.

“It was determined that it was the careless disposal of cigarettes in a trash barrel,” said Fire Department Capt. Neil Furtado.

Furtado said the trash barrel was in a third-floor unit of a rooming house at 515 South Main St.

Fire investigators found a cigarette butt embedded in the melted plastic of the trash barrel “which was a strong indicator that’s where the fire started,” Furtado said.

The building’s sprinkler system suppressed the fire but caused water damage to the 18-unit structure, said Furtado. Investigators pegged the cost of the damage at approximately $15,000.

No injuries were reported to fire personnel or building residents, according to Furtado.

Firefighters responded to the building about 2:15 p.m. Monday. The residence was located along the parade route near where the parade stepped off from Kennedy Park.

The Veterans Day parade was briefly paused so that fire apparatus could approach the scene.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Rockland, MA – Sprinkler system keeps fire from spreading after women drives through front of pizza shop

A Massachusetts woman has been charged with operating under the influence after she police say crashed her car through the facade of a pizza shop in Rockland late Sunday.

The car ended up completely inside Mike’s Pizza at 315 Union St. after the crash, which happened around 11:50 p.m. The vehicle was on fire before firefighters doused the flames, authorities said.

The driver, identified as 40-year-old Rockland resident Lauren Hutcheon, was out of the vehicle by the time officers arrived. She received aid before being taken to a local hospital, police said.

Neighbors Jason Webb and his fiancee said they heard the crash and came running to help.

“I’m looking out my window and saw flames before I even got her out of the car,” Webb said. “It was instant flames.”

Before crews even arrived, the restaurant’s sprinkler system went off and helped keep the flames from spreading.

“She actually opened the driver side door herself, threw herself on the ground and screamed, ‘help me, help me,’ as we were running up there,” Webb said.

Hutcheon was charged with speeding, failure to stop, negligent operation and driving under the influence, among other charges.

Firefighters arrived at the pizza shop shortly after midnight and successfully extinguished the flames, searched the building and temporarily evacuated the apartments above the shop, according to the Rockland Fire Department.

Ron Lopes, the owner of the pizza shop, had to close Monday due to the damage. He said he’s just glad nobody was inside the restaurant when the crash happened.

“Glad nobody was hurt,” Lopes said. “It’s mostly just a mess.”

Lopes said he hopes to have the doors back open before Halloween.

Hutcheon is expected to appear in court sometime in the next few weeks.

“Luckily she wasn’t hurt more seriously. Three feet to the right she would have hit a steel beam,” Lopes said.

The incident remains under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Worcester, MA – Fire sprinkler activation contains fire to single apartment

A fire in a unit at the Pleasant Tower Apartments Friday damaged a unit on the eighth floor.

According to Deputy Fire Chief Martin Dyer, the fire was contained to the eighth floor apartment. One resident was being evaluated Friday afternoon, the deputy chief said.

A second alarm was struck to bring more personnel to the building; the deputy chief said two activated sprinkler heads led to a significant water cleanup operation.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. Firefighters arrived at the building before 6 p.m., and stayed for more than an hour.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Danvers, MA – Fire sprinkler quickly puts out fire started in school bathroom by student

A 15-year-old juvenile is suspected of setting a fire in a bathroom at Danvers High School on Wednesday that caused thousands of dollars of damage and forced the school to evacuate and dismiss students for the day.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but students were dismissed due to a sprinkler activation and the need for cleanup, according to a press release from the Danvers Police Department.

Police said a 15-year-old from Danvers has been identified as the suspect and that criminal charges are pending. Officials described the incident as an “intentional act of vandalism.”

Firefighters and police responded to a fire alarm at Danvers High School on Cabot Road at 8:12 a.m. The alarm triggered the evacuation of students by staff. The fire was discovered in the third-floor men’s bathroom and was quickly extinguished, officials said.

The Danvers Police Department’s criminal investigation division is working with the Essex District Attorney’s Office on pending criminal charges.

Afternoon and evening events were scheduled to take place as scheduled at Danvers High School on Wednesday, and school will be open for a regular school day on Thursday, school officials said.