Tag Archives: Michigan

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Spring Lake, MI – Small school fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Emergency crews responded to a fire alarm at Holmes Elementary School in Spring Lake Thursday morning.

The Spring Lake Fire Department (SLFD) says units arrived at the school after 6 a.m. to find no signs of fire from the outside. Subsequent investigations revealed a small fire that had been put out by a sprinkler inside one of the classrooms, officials explain.

We’re told firefighters remained on scene to help clear out smoke and assist with the school’s cleanup efforts.

SLFD says the incident is an example of how sprinkler systems minimize fire damage and overall risks to public safety.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Milford, MI – Sprinkler system activated for vehicle fire at GM; No injuries reported

A fire occurred inside an engineering lab at the GM Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan over the weekend.

General Motors is now investigating the cause of the fire. According to a report from Detroit Free Press, which cites a statement by Brighton Area Fire Authority Chief Mike O’Brian, the fire started on Sunday around 6:30 a.m. local time.

GM’s fire brigade was the first to notice smoke coming from the building and called 911. Brighton and Milford firefighters responded and were able to quickly extinguish the blaze. According to O’Brian, the fire was largely extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system by the time firefighters arrived on the scene.

“It was a vehicle that started the fire,” O’Brian said. “How it started? We don’t know that. That’s under investigation. There were no injuries. There was smoke throughout the structure and we worked with GM to get the smoke evacuated.”

Employees are expected to return to work at the lab later this week.

According to GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal, the fire was related to the “12V system” on a “development vehicle.” However, although the automaker declined to specify whether the development vehicle in question was all-electric or an internal combustion engine, Fire Chief O’Brian did recently make a statement to WWJ Newsradio 950 outlining the hazards of EV development, saying “You’re gonna see a lot more events that when there’s a fire involving an electrified vehicle or an energy stored system. You’re going to see a lot more protection of the exposures in allowing the fire event to burn itself out or to consume itself.”

The GM Milford Proving Ground first opened in 1924 as the industry’s first dedicated automobile test facility, and now includes 4,800 staff and 142 buildings, as well as 132 miles of test roads.

Recently, General Motors was faced with a lawsuit levied against the automaker by Milford residents accusing GM of contaminating the local drinking water.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Ann Arbor, MI – Sprinkler system activated for fire at hotel; No injuries reported

An Ann Arbor hotel was damaged Sunday night when a fire broke out in one of its rooms, causing the sprinkler system to activate.

Fire crews were called at 8:47 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 2, to the Holiday Inn, 3155 Boardwalk Drive, south of Eisenhower Parkway for a report of a fire in the building, according to the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

Crews arrived to find smoke coming from a second-floor room. They began preparing for stand-pipe operations, unloading fire hoses to be connected to a hydrant, officials said.

Firefighters located the source of the smoke, a vacant hotel room, and entered the room to discover the fire was being suppressed by the building sprinkler system, officials said.

A second alarm was initially called, but then canceled after fire crews were able to bring the fire under control, officials said.

No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was determined to be an issue with the room’s ventilation system, officials said.

Guests of the hotel were displaced for the night and relocated to the nearby Sheraton hotel, officials said.

The Pittsfield Township Fire Department, Huron Valley Ambulance and the Ann Arbor Police Department assisted at the scene.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Petoskey, MI – Sprinkler system activated for lithium-ion battery fire at resort

What could’ve potentially been a large structure fire Tuesday afternoon at a Petoskey motorcoach resort was averted because of a building’s sprinkler system.

Al Welsheimer, Resort/Bear Creek Fire Department’s fire chief, said a sprinkler system and two heads which were activated saved the clubhouse building at Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort, located north of Petoskey off U.S. 31 at 2075 Cidarpress Dr.

“They have a clubhouse there that’s owned by the members of the membership of the club,” Welsheimer said. “The call came in as a fire in the office and we also received a call from the commercial fire alarm company as their smoke sensors were activated and Kirk Rose (Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort developer) called and said there was a fire in the office with batteries on fire.

“There was a small explosion.”

Welsheimer said Resort/Bear Creek Fire Department received the call at 4:33 p.m. and firefighters were on scene at 4:40 p.m.

“We had the fire out at 5 p.m. and cleared at 5:28 p.m.,” Welsheimer said. “What it was is they had two Segways in an office, which was more like a break room, and the battery packs were on a charger charging and one of the battery packs basically caught on fire. They are a rechargeable lithium ion battery that can be recharged and it basically caught on fire.”

Welsheimer said the important part of the fire was the heat and smoke activated the building’s sprinkler system, and the “sprinkler system basically put the fire out.”

“As far as damage goes, besides obviously water damage, there was very little damage and no damage to the structure of the building,” Welsheimer said. “There was very little damage to the room where the origin of the fire was, just a little bit of charring on the wall and we had to rip some of the wall apart just to make sure there was not extension and some of the ceiling tiles, but the sprinkler system is what activated and saved this building from basically being an hour fire from an all-night fire for us.”

The Ciderpress Club located within Hearthside Grove is an 18,000 square foot Craftsman-style clubhouse which sits on 9.5 acres in the center of the motorcoach’s resort. The building includes a café, outdoor pavilion, game room and movie theater, according to the resort’s website.

“That’s huge,” Welsheimer said of the sprinkler system’s activation in saving the building. “Sprinkler systems take such a bad rap, I think because everybody thinks of the ‘I Love Lucy’ scene where all the sprinkler heads go off and everybody gets wet.”

Welsheimer said the sprinkler system saved tens of thousands of dollars of potential damage had they not been installed and properly working.

“You think of that sprinkler head, it’s sitting there 24/7, 365,” Welsheimer said. “It’s like a little fire guy sitting there with a hose waiting for a fire to go off so he can spray his water. As long as they’re maintained on an annual basis, that’s what they’re supposed to do and this was a textbook example of what the system is supposed to do.”

Welsheimer noted manufacturers of sprinkler systems don’t necessarily sell them as a way to put out a fire as much as they help contain the fire.

“But in certain situations, obviously, it will depending on the size of the fire and what’s burning,” Welsheimer said. “The main goal is to get it to contain the fire to a smaller location and get people out of the building safely if there’s people in the building.”

EMS personnel also responded to the fire, Welsheimer said, to check on Rose and another man who was in the building at the time for smoke ventilation. No serious injuries occurred.

“They were cold because they got wet,” Welsheimer said. “All-in-all it was a very good outcome.

“I think it’s really important to emphasize how important sprinkler systems are,” Welsheimer added. “I know some people have residential sprinkler systems and the install of those have come down a long ways. In this case, they (Hearthside Grove) might have some water damage and have to replace some drywall and the perimeter, but the building is still standing.”

Welsheimer said this is also the time of year where fire departments also begin to respond to more chimney fires.

“We’ve had one so far this year and I know Melrose (Township) had one last Saturday which ended up being a structure fire,” Welsheimer said. “We’re at that time of season where people should be cleaning their chimneys and making sure they’re being inspected and cleaning them on a monthly basis if they’re regularly using them.”

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Ann Arbor, MI – Fire at hospital extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Multiple fire crews from across Washtenaw County responded to a three-alarm fire inside Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor Tuesday afternoon.

Fire crews were called at 3:28 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, to a fire at Michigan Medicine’s University Hospital facility for a report of a fire on the third floor, according to the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

Crews arrived and went to the third floor, a mechanical floor with no hospital patients, and found heavy smoke and an active fire in a very large air handling unit the building’s sprinkler system was unable to extinguish on its own, officials said.

Using the AAFD’s tower truck, firefighters stretched 250 feet of high-rise hose line from a standpipe to extinguish the fire as additional fire crew were called to the hospital, officials said.

The fire was able to be contained while additional crew searched the upper floors to check for any additional smoke or fire spread, officials said.

There were no reported injuries or significant damage to the hospital, but there was smoke in a few patient care units, according to an alert from Michigan Medicine.

Patients and staff in impacted areas have been relocated, the alert said.

Hospital officials stated it is temporarily reducing the capacity of operating rooms for Oct. 13 and are rescheduling a portion of procedures as a safety precaution.

“Firefighters did outstanding work with this very challenging fire,” said Ann Arbor Fire Chief Mike Kennedy. “We have planned and trained for high-rise fires for the last 18 months and today all of that effort paid off. Our firefighters performed flawlessly.”

Multiple fire crews from the surrounding area assisted at the scene including the Ann Arbor Township Fire Department, Scio Township Fire Department, Pittsfield Township Fire Department, Superior Township Fire Department, Saline Area Fire Department and the Northfield Township Fire Department.

The University of Michigan Division of Safety and Security, Michigan Medicine security and staff, the Ann Arbor Police Department, HART Huron Valley, assisted at the scene as well.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Escanaba, MI – Sprinkler system activated for fire in college welding building

This afternoon Escanaba Public Safety responded to a fire in Bay College’s welding building.

18 students and two instructors were evacuated safely.

Upon arrival, officers deployed attack lines and entered the building. The automated fire sprinkler system was already on.

It was determined a filter-system from one of the welding machines caught fire.

The building sustained smoke and water damage.

Escanaba Public Safety was assisted by DTE, Escanaba City Electric, and the Delta County Central Dispatch Center.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Battle Creek, MI – Sprinkler system activated for large manufacturing fire

Two people suffered minor injuries from a large manufacturing fire Wednesday morning in Battle Creek.

Firefighters were called in at 9:25 a.m. to a building owned by Transcontinental Michigan at 155 Brook St., according to a news release.

Responding units arrived on scene to find smoke coming from the garage opening on the side of the building.

Rescue 3 pulled an attack hose line, made an interior attack and quickly gained control of the fire with help from the fire suppression sprinkler unit that was directly over the machine that was on fire.

Fire units then performed ventilation to remove the trapped smoke in the building and checked for fire extension.

No firefighters were injured, but two company employees were checked by EMS for smoke inhalation.

They did not go to the hospital, however.

The cause of the fire was a malfunctioning machine, according to the Battle Creek Fire Department.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Benzonia, MI – Sprinkler system activated for fire at high school

The cause of a fire at Benzie Central High School that caused smoke and fire damage to several rooms has been determined.

According to Amiee Erfourth, superintendent of Benzie Central Schools, a report from the fire marshal stated spontaneous combustion of chemicals used for cleaning started a fire in a maintenance area.

“We think linseed oil was partly to blame,” Erfourth said. “It’s not a chemical we usually use, but it was used to clean some cutting boards. It has a low flashpoint.”

Erfourth said any time linseed oil is used in the future, any paper towels or rags used with it will be stored in water.

Smoke and water damaged flooring and cabinets in the maintenance room and several adjacent rooms.

“We’ll need new flooring in the band room and maintenance room, and we’ll have to repaint the maintenance room,” Erfourth said. “We’ll have to completely re-do the life skills room by replacing the flooring and cabinetry and painting the wall. We’re hoping to have it all done by the time school starts, but that will depend on supply timeline for flooring and cabinetry.”

Erfourth is still working with insurance adjustors to come up with the total cost of repairs. The school is currently working with flooring and cabinetry companies and taking bids for the work needed.

The Benzonia Fire Department responded to an alarm at around 5 p.m. on June 30 at the high school. At first they did not see a fire, but after moving to the back of the building, they saw a fire in a maintenance area. The school’s automatic sprinkler system had put most of the fire out. After the fire department finished putting out the fire, they worked to drive smoke out of the building.

The Frankfort and Homestead fire departments also responded to the call and helped vent smoke and clean up excess water as well.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Rochester Hills, MI – Hospital sprinkler system contains fire on Thanksgiving; No injuries reported

Fire crews were dispatched Thursday morning to Ascension Providence Rochester Hospital on reports of a fire.

According to authorities, the call came in at about 8:45 a.m. and when fire crews arrived, they found smoke coming from the second floor of the building. Fortunately, the area that the fire was in was closed due to Thanksgiving.

Authorities said the hospital’s sprinkler system held the fire back until fire crews were able to extinguish the fire.

Rochester Hills Fire Department had help from fire crews from Waterford, Bloomfield Township, Troy, Oakland Township and Auburn Hills.

No one was injured during the fire.

The fire investigation will be handled by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Other - Retail, Retail

Battle Creek, MI – Fire sprinkler system contained building fire at tile & carpet shop; No injuries reported

Around 1 p.m. today, the Battle Creek Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire at Michigan Tile & Carpet at 99 E. Columbia Avenue.

While the building was partially occupied on arrival, occupants were able to exit the building, resulting in no injuries of fatalities.

Upon arrival, one of the rescue cars extended a handline to extinguish the contained fire in the warehouse area. The fire suppression system worked by containing the fire for crews to finish extinguishing.

Loss was minimized due to the multitude of units who arrived on scene. It is estimated by BCPD that Michigan Tile & Carpet experienced a loss of around $45,000 in property and contents damage combined.