** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED **

On February 15, 2015, the Brighton Area Fire Department was dispatched to a reported audible fire alarm in an apartment building with water leaking through to an apartment below. 

When fire personnel arrived there were no signs of fire, only an external water flow alarm activating.  There was a light haze of smoke in the common corridor.  Fire personnel stretched a hand line to the second floor of the apartment building and forced open one apartment on the second floor finding a single residential sprinkler activated and a thick white haze of smoke/steam in the apartment.  There was no active fire.  Fire crews conducted a quick search of the single bedroom apartment and found a male victim unconscious in a bed. 

The victim was removed from the apartment and turned over to EMS for care.  The 30 y/o male was transported to the ER and treated for smoke inhalation and fully recovered from the event.

Further investigation found that a fire had occurred between an upholstered chair and a table in the living room that was caused by careless discard of smoking materials.  The fire was completely extinguished by a single sprinkler system.  Further examination of the apartment found that both smoke alarms located inside the bedroom and just outside the bedroom had been disabled and removed for the ceiling preventing an early warning to the lone resident.

The NFPA 13R sprinkler system in this building fulfilled its intended purpose in this building by suppressing the fire and maintained a tenable and livable condition even though the smoke alarms had been removed.