Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

Residential, Single Family Home

Fallston, MD – Residential sprinkler system activated for fire in home; No injuries reported

Deputy State Fire Marshals are crediting a smoke alarm and a home fire sprinkler system for saving an infant’s life and reducing significant property damage at a Fallston home over the weekend.

Fallston Volunteer Fire Company and mutual-aid departments were dispatched at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday for a reported dwelling in the 2000-block of Arden Drive after the owner, who was outside at the time, heard a smoke alarm sounding. Upon arrival, the fire department discovered a fire in the kitchen with one activated fire sprinkler.

Fire investigators concluded the fire started in the kitchen, and the cause was accidental due to an unattended candle. The investigation determined that the activation of only one automatic fire sprinkler prevented the fire from spreading from the kitchen into the remainder of the home. Damage was limited to an estimated $20,000, and no injuries were reported.

State Fire Marshal Brian S. Geraci stated, “Residential fire sprinklers are proven to save lives, prevent injuries and protect property and valuables. The best home fire safety practice is combining a smoke alarm, an escape plan, and a residential fire sprinkler. Today we saw the effects of this winning combination;”.

Maryland requires a residential fire sprinkler in all new one- or two-family homes across the state. Maryland law also prohibits local governments from weakening the sprinkler requirement in their jurisdiction’s building codes.

Apartment Building, Residential

Roanoke, VA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

An interior sprinkler system helped to douse a Monday morning fire at an apartment complex, according to Roanoke County emergency services.

Firefighters were summoned to the Ridgeview Apartments on Hawthorne Road around 10 a.m. by E-911 reports of smoke and water being emitted from a second-story apartment. There they found unattended cooking materials in a unit whose resident was not present.

The apartment’s sprinkler system had already contained the fire. The incident caused water damage to four units in the multistory residential complex and smoke damage to the apartment where the fire originated.

The Roanoke County fire marshal estimated damages at $25,000. No injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Madison, WI – Stove fire at apartment complex extinguished by sprinkler system

A fire that broke out in a Mayo Drive apartment while no one was home was caught quickly and extinguished by an automatic fire sprinkler.

Engine Co. 7 responded to the building to investigate the fire alarm that was sounding. Residents told firefighters there may have been a fire in one of the units. Crews went inside and found water leaking out from under one of the apartment doors. Upon entry to the unit, Engine Co. 7 found a box of napkins on the stovetop that was charred due to the electrical burner being turned on. Firefighters removed the napkins and turned off the burner. The apartment was ventilated to clear the air.

Firefighters located the occupant, who stated she remembers placing the box of napkins on the stove before leaving home. The burner may have been accidentally bumped prior to her leaving the apartment.

Other - Residential, Residential

Westfield, MA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at residential building; No injuries reported

Firefighters responded to 27 Washington St. Thursday morning after a fire was reported on the third floor of the residential building.

No injuries were reported in the fire, which was called in at 11:48 a.m., but all residents of the building have safely been evacuated until the cleanup can be complete and the fire suppression system in the building can be restored.

Deputy Chief Eric Bishop said the fire began near a refrigerator on the third floor, but the cause is still under investigation.

“Engine crews got to the third floor and found heavy smoke, and other crews evacuated people who had not yet left the building,” said Bishop.

There was some fire and smoke damage on the third floor. Bishop said minimal water was needed to put the fire out because it was mostly contained by the sprinkler system, which firefighters supported by adding water and pressure.

Apartment Building, Residential

Oklahoma City, OK – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at apartment complex; No injuries reported

Crews responded to a commercial fire at the Oklahoma City Housing Authority complex Tuesday morning in southwest Oklahoma City.

Around 8 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters responded to a smoke investigation at the Andrews Square Apartments near Southwest 22nd Street and Robinson Avenue. Crews arrived and found smoke on the fourth floor.

Authorities said firefighters went to the fourth floor and learned the flames were contained in one room. The room’s sprinkler head activated and put out the fire, officials said.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Eau Claire, WI – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire inside building; No injuries reported

No one is hurt after a fire Thursday morning at Banbury Place in Eau Claire.

The fire, which happened at 6:55 a.m. in Building 13, was put out by the building’s sprinkler system before crews arrived, according to Eau Claire Fire & Rescue.

Battalion Chief Brian Toonen said the sprinkler system worked as intended, and there were no injuries to report. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, Toonen said. In a release from the department, damages to the building and its contents are estimated at $12,000.

The fire happened on the second floor of Building 13, which is home to several different businesses. “Sometimes all the work we do for fire prevention really pays off!” the department wrote in a Facebook post.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Fresno, CA – Sprinkler system activated for possible arson fire

A fire Monday morning at a city-owned building in downtown Fresno that’s more than 120 years old may have been arson, according to a Fresno Fire Department battalion chief.

Crews were called at about 8:30 a.m. to the Greyhound bus station on Tulare Street and Santa Fe Avenue where flames from outside the building set off fire sprinklers, Battalion Chief Devin McGuire said.

Crews found two windows had been broken from the outside where the fire originated, McGuire said, and witnesses pointed out a man in the area who may have started the fire.

Firefighters worked to replace a damaged sprinkler, pushed pooled water out of the building and investigate the potential arson, he said.

Greyhound was not open at the time of the fire, according to fire crews.

The bus company rents the northern most space of the Spanish mission-style structure that also houses the Amtrak station in downtown. The city owns the building, McGuire said.

“It’s definitely a suspicious fire any time you do have a fire that starts on the exterior of the building,” he said.

The damage is not expected to affect daily business for the depot, he said.

The historic Santa Fe Railroad Depot building was completed in 1899.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Madison, WI – Sprinkler system activated for fire at hotel; No injuries reported

A Far East Side hotel was evacuated, but no one was injured, in a fire Monday that was quickly extinguished by a sprinkler system, the Madison Fire Department said. 

Fire crews responded to the fire at the Microtel Inn & Suites at 2139 E Springs Drive around 10:30 a.m., according to the Fire Department. When firefighters arrived, no smoke was visible from the outside and guests were being escorted out of the building. 

Firefighters found heavy smoke but no flames in a room on the second floor of the hotel, the department said. The sprinkler system in the room had been activated. 

The cause of the fire was an electrical light that had malfunctioned, prompting burning material to drop onto a couch, burning it, the department said. A section of the wall was also scorched. 

The Fire Department estimates the damage at around $2,600. No one was in the room at the time of the fire. 

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Macon, GA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at business; No injuries reported

Macon-Bibb fire crews responded to a blaze at a South Macon business on Monday.

Fire Chief Shane Edwards says it happened at Down River Load Solutions on Joe Tamplin Blvd.

Firefighters were dispatched around 10:40 a.m.

The first units to get to the scene were told that a machine had caught fire but the building’s sprinkler system extinguished most of it.

Firefighters executed fireground operations and no injuries were reported. The business took minimal damage.