Tag Archives: Massachusetts

College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Boston, MA – Residence hall fire at Boston College contained with help from sprinkler system, No injuries reported

A fire broke out on the fourth floor of Welch Hall shortly after midnight last Tuesday morning. The fire was most likely due to a small refrigerator experiencing an electrical issue, according to Eric Fricke, a spokesman for the City of Newton Fire Department.

While the none of the room’s residents were injured, they will be relocated to a different room for the remainder of the year due to the damage the fire caused.

A number of rooms on the third and fourth floors experienced water damage because the sprinkler system activated, causing several dozen residents to be temporarily relocated. Overnight housing was provided to six Boston College students.

“Throughout the day, Facilities Services has worked to dry out the affected rooms using dehumidifiers and fans,” University Spokesman Jack Dunn said in an email. “They expect that all students, except those in the room where the fire started, will be able to return to their rooms by this evening.”

Investigators are still determining the reason that the fridge caught fire. Fricke said the refrigerator, which was placed under one of the residents’ beds and was not originally distributed by BC, caught on fire either because it was overfilled, leaving it without “room to breathe,” or because it short-circuited.

Welch residents were forced to wait outside shortly after the fire alarm went off. After a while, they were moved to McElroy Commons. Because the fire activated the sprinkler system, students were not allowed to return to Welch until 3 a.m. When one of the sprinkler heads goes off, the sprinkler company has to replace it, causing the students to be kept away from their dorms for a prolonged period of time.

A burnt bed frame, destroyed mattress, television, and mini fridge were outside of Welch this morning. Glass appeared to be missing from several of the top-floor windows. Fricke said that the windows may have cracked due to the heat of the fire, or firefighters breaking the windows for ventilation.

Fricke sees this incident as a teachable moment for students, which should encourage them to practice safety. He noted that improperly using power strips often causes fires on college campuses. “College students are kind of [unaware of risks],” Fricke said. “What ends up happening is they don’t appreciate the dangers.”

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Brockton, MA – Fire at recycling and waste management facility doused by sprinkler system

The sprinkler system at Champion City Recovery did its job early Sunday morning, containing a fire at the transfer station before firefighters arrived. Fire officials responded to the scene at 138 Wilder St. at 2:23 a.m., discovering smoke and fire from a debris pile within the main building. There was minimal damage to the building, and no one was injured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, fire officials said Sunday afternoon. The sprinkler system was already activated when firefighters arrived at the transfer and recycling station on the city’s north side, containing the fire to the debris (comprised mostly of construction materials). Firefighters used multiple hoses to douse the pile, and a heavy equipment operator from Champion City Recovery helped move the pile around for firefighters. The owner was on scene, the Fire Department said. Champion City Recovery is a rail-served transfer station managing construction and demolition waste. The fire was extinguished before 4 a.m. The city’s Building Department was called to survey any structural damage. The facility also had two fires in 2014: a smoky blaze within the building in June, then an excavator fire in November.

Retail, Shopping Mall

Rehoboth Beach, MA – Fire at outlet mall caused by malfunctioning fluorescent light controlled by sprinkler system

A fire March 22 in the Ralph Lauren Polo outlet caused $5,000 in damage, officials say. Firefighters from Rehoboth Beach, Indian River and Lewes responded to the Midway Outlets at 4:19 a.m. for an automatic fire alarm and found a smoke-filled store, said Harry Miller, chief deputy state fire marshal. A sprinkler system was activated and kept flames under control, Miller said. No one was injured.  Miller said the fire was caused by a malfunction in a fluorescent light fixture which ignited combustible material nearby. He said damage was $5,000.

Apartment Building, Residential

Fitchburg, MA – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by automatic sprinkler system

A small kitchen fire at the Riverside Commons apartment complex left two units water-damaged Wednesday morning.  According to apartment manager Lisa Chaves, the fire started when a tenant was cooking on their stove top at about 10:30 a.m.  She said that no one was injured in the fire and that flames were extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system. However, Chaves said two apartments were damaged by the water from the sprinklers.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lowell, MA – Sprinkler system contains apartment blaze caused by electrical issue

Ten people were displaced following a one-alarm fire that broke out in a rear apartment unit behind the Acre Sports Pub on Fletcher Street at around 7:45 a.m. Sunday. The sprinkler system was activated and contained the fire until Lowell firefighters arrived on scene and quickly extinguished the blaze, according to Lowell Fire Chief Jeff Winward.

“Because of a working fire-alarm system, all occupants of the building were able to escape from the fire without injury,” Winward said. The displaced residents of the multi-unit building at 282 Fletcher St. were assisted by the American Red Cross, according to the chief. All other occupants were able to return to their apartments. The Acre Sports Pub remains open. The cause of the blaze was ruled accidental after starting due to an electrical problem, Winward said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Watertown, MA – Sprinkler system activates to help control blaze at apartment building

7:11 a.m. Officers were called to 55 Waverley Ave. for the report of a fire alarm activation. Upon arrival, police and the Watertown Fire Department investigated smoke coming from an area between the third and fourth floors of the building. The fire was identified to have started in the trash room of the building and, because of the smoke from the fire, the building’s sprinkler system was activated. <BLOG NOTE: Only the substantial heat from a fire will cause a sprinkler to activate, Not smoke.>

Other - Retail, Retail

Belmont, MA – Sprinkler system controls fire affecting three businesses

A building’s sprinkler system did its job preventing a fire from spreading and allowed the Belmont Fire Department to extinguish a one-alarm blaze that damaged three businesses in Cushing Square around 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14.

A fire alarm was activated at 8:23 p.m. at 448 Common St. in what is called The Spirited Gourmet Building, said Belmont Fire Chief David L. Frizzell at the scene. When fire equipment arrived two minutes later, the fire control panel indicated a blaze in Pilgrim Shoe Repair.

Upon gaining access, crews discovered the store full of smoke and small fire in the back corner of the operation.

“The sprinkler’s worked controlling the fire long enough for our personnel to knock it down,” said Frizzell. Fire crews spent nearly two hours searching for “hot spots” in the walls and ceiling. Besides the Pilgrim, water damage was reported in The Spirited Gourmet and the Fred Astaire Dance Studio.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

Other Business

East Longmeadow, MA – Fuel oil fire caused by truck explosion limited with help from sprinkler system

Investigators have determined an explosion that injured an employee at a Shaker Road truck and equipment repair business Monday afternoon was sparked by static electricity inside the tank of an oil delivery truck. The W.B. Hill employee suffered only minor injuries even though the force of the blast blew out two metal overhead doors, Fire Chief Paul Morrissette said.

“He lucked out, it could have been disastrous,” Morrissette said, adding that approximately nine other employees in the area escaped injury. The injured employee was treated at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and released, Morrissette said.

Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state Fire Marshal’s office, said the blast, which was reported about 1:30 p.m., caused approximately $500,000 in damage to the tanker and the building, located at 305 Shaker Road. Morrissette said the explosion occurred as employees tested a repair on the home heating oil delivery tanker by pumping liquid from the tanker.

“Somehow or other the hose had moved or dislodged and when it did it created a static charge,” he said. The hatchway on top of the tank, known as a manway, was open at the time and explosion. “When it flashed it just went straight out,” Morrisette said. “The truck itself didn’t explode.”

After the explosion, the fuel in the tank continued to burn until the facility’s sprinkler system was able to cool it enough to put it out, Morrissette said. Heavy smoke was pouring out of the building when firefighters arrived. Firefighters from the Longmeadow Fire Department and the Shaker Pines Fire Department in Enfield provided mutual aid. Wilbraham firefighters provided station coverage.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Brockton, MA – Sprinkler system keeps overnight hotel fire from spreading

A sprinkler system is being credited for averting a possible major fire or disaster at a downtown hotel early Friday morning. The Brockton Fire Department received a 911 call about 1 a.m. reporting there was an unknown fire in one of the rooms at the Elmcourt Hotel, at 33 West Elm St. When firefighters arrived, they learned that the sprinkler system had been activated on the fourth floor.

“The contents of the room, including the mattress, were on fire,” said fire Capt. Jeff Marchetti. “The sprinkler heads were flowing and kept the fire from spreading.”

The fire was caused by the careless disposal of smoking materials, the captain said.

The actual fire was contained to only the one room on the fourth floor. Firefighters had to tap into a standpipe system in the building to use a small amount of water to extinguish the parts of the fire that the sprinkler didn’t, Marchetti said.

The fire was extinguished about 12 minutes after the initial 911 call reporting it.

Although the fire was contained to one room, there was a large amount of water damage to multiple floors due to the sprinkler system, Marchetti said.

“Because of the water damage from the sprinkler heads flowing, they had to shut down power to some of the hotel,” he said.

The fire is estimated to have caused about $100,000 in damage, Marchetti said.

Fire officials said several people had to be relocated because they couldn’t stay in the rooms directly below where the fire occurred due to water damage.

But Chip Yannone, the owner of the Elmcourt, said everyone was able to stay in the hotel, some just had to switch rooms.

“We are fortunate enough to be able to keep everyone here,” he said.

Yannone said that insurance adjusters hadn’t been to the building as of late Friday morning and he wanted to wait for their investigation to be complete before discussing the possible damages.

Apartment Building, Residential

Cambridge, MA – No injuries in overnight apartment fire contained with help sprinkler system

A fast-moving fire in Cambridge could have been much worse if it wasn’t for the sprinkler system. Firefighters were called to a four-story apartment building at the corner Auburn and Magazine streets around 1 a.m. after flames broke out on a second floor porch. The fire then spread to two more buildings.

“I started hearing cracking and popping. We really didn’t think much of it and then I looked out my window and saw all these embers falling,”resident Andrew Colello told WBZ-TV.

“I hear a crash and there’s like a fireman knocking down my door, waking all my roommates up, getting us out of there.”

A total of 20 units were evacuated safely because the sprinklers helped contain the fire, acting Fire Chief Gerard Mahoney told reporters. No one was hurt. There’s no word yet on a cause.

The four-alarm fire came just days before the first anniversary of a massive 10-alarm fire on Berkshire Street in Cambridge. “This thankfully, had a far different outcome than that did. But we don’t like to see anybody displaced at any time, particularly in the holiday season,” Mahoney said. About 60 people were displaced in Thursday’s fire.