Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

Apartment Building, Residential

Conroe, TX – (no media coverage) Apartment fire extinguished by fire sprinkler prior to arrival of fire department

The City of Conroe Fire Department was notified of an apartment fire at 1840 Longmire Rd (The Landings of Conroe) at approximately 08:25 a.m. on December 3, 2019.

Conroe Firefighters arrived at approximately 08:30 a.m. and discovered an extinguished fire in an upstairs apartment. A single fire sprinkler head had activated and extinguished a stove top grease fire. There were no reported injuries to firefighters or other occupants of the building. Thanks to the activation of the fire sprinkler, there was minimal fire or smoke damage. Water damage was limited to the affected apartment and the apartment immediately below. Fire crews worked to reduce property damage by turning off the fire sprinkler and removing as much water as possible.

A fire investigation has been completed by the City of Conroe Fire Marshal’s Office and the fire has been classified as accidental in nature. The Conroe Fire Department would like to remind residents that a leading cause of home fires is unattended cooking.

This incident is an excellent example of the vital role a properly installed and maintained automatic fire sprinkler system can play in saving lives and reducing property damage. It is likely that the automatic fire sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building’s owners and occupants.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance protecting life and property.

Apartment Building, Residential

Port Angeles, WA – Fire sprinkler prevents fire from spreading at apartment complex; No injuries reported

A fire sprinkler system prevented a fire from spreading at a Port Angeles apartment complex Sunday morning.

The Port Angeles Fire Department sent five firefighters to 1003 S. C St. for a reported structure fire at about 11:51 a.m. Sunday, according to a press release.

When they arrived they found light smoke showing from unit 3 and all residents had evacuated.

“The sprinkler system had been activated in the bedroom of unit 3 and extinguished the fire,” Lt. Bryant Kroh said in a news release. “Not only did this minimize the damage to the building, it prevented any further danger to tenants on site.”

Firefighters immediately worked to ventilate the apartment and turned off the sprinkler system to minimize water damage. The apartment sustained smoke, fire and water damage.

No one was injured in the incident.

The fire was caused by bedroom furnishings being too close to a baseboard heater, according to the press release.

Apartment Building, Residential

Ottawa, ON, Canada – Kitchen fire in empty apartment unit extinguished by fire sprinkler

The sprinkler system quickly doused a fire at the Minto Suite Hotel Friday morning after a night that kept firefighters busy with two east-end house fires including one that sent three people to hospital with smoke inhalation.

The fire department was called to 185 Lyon Street North at 8:15 a.m. as residents were brought to the building’s lobby. The smoke and water was limited to a unit under renovation and an adjacent unit. Fire crews were clearing the scene within the hour.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

La Grange Park, IL – Malfunctioning furnace fire controlled by fire sprinklers at rehabilitation center; No injuries reported

No one was injured and no one had to be evacuated when a furnace malfunction started a fire Thursday morning at The Grove of La Grange Park rehabilitation center, fire officials reported.

An automatic fire alarm at the facility, 701 N. La Grange Road, sounded at 9:05 a.m. Nov. 21, Fire Chief Dean Maggos said.

A furnace in a sub-basement mechanical room malfunctioned, causing flames from the furnace burners to reach insulation below some ducts, Maggos said. A fire sprinkler located only a few feet away activated, controlled the fire and sounded an alarm. Water from the sprinkler limited the fire and heat damage to the immediate area.

Water damage was minimal, as the staff and firefighters kept the water in the mechanical room where it drained through floor drains, the Fire Department reported.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Des Moines, IA – Fire sprinklers extinguish fire started by a student in school bathroom

A small fire in a bathroom at Lincoln High School forced the building’s evacuation Monday morning and classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

School officials said the fire started in a first-floor boys bathroom before 8:30 a.m. and the school’s sprinkler system turned on and put out the fire.

“So there’s some water damage, some smoke damage and minimal amount of fire damage in the bathroom. Probably be some structural damage to the walls that will have to be replaced due to the water and the smoke,” Des Moines Fire Lieutenant Chris Clement said.

The Des Moines Fire Department said the cause of the fire is being investigated.

Phil Roeder, with the Des Moines Public School District, said they were able to identify the student involved and they could be facing disciplinary action.

“The police department and our SRO responded very quickly to find out who the person was behind this. Staff was working with authorities both to make sure students were safe, but also helping to identify who they thought triggered this as well. It was a good team effort,” Roeder said.

Students and staff were allowed into the Roundhouse and Commons while fire crews responded.

Roeder said students will be back in class on Tuesday.

“Because the bathroom fire was on the front part of the school, things like the gymnasium and all that are on the backside of the school and pretty far away from where any smell is. So activities are going to go on at school as usual and we expect the clean up for the most part to be completed today and classes will start back up at 8:30 tomorrow morning,” Roeder said.

Students will have to make up the school time that was lost on Monday, but Roeder said they might not be able to start making it up until after the holidays.

“We’ll sit down and look at the hours, look at the calendar and make sure the time we lost today gets made up appropriately and get on with the rest of the school year,” Roeder said.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Vancouver, WA – Fire sprinklers keep fire from spreading at local restaurant

A fire Wednesday morning set off a sprinkler system inside Lindo Mexico in east Vancouver, drenching the restaurant.

Staff has worked hard over the past two days, and the restaurant plans to reopen Friday morning.

“We were here from early morning (Wednesday) to 6 or 7 p.m., and then all day today cleaning everything up,” waiter Alex Armeta said.

The sprinkler system flooded the business with a couple inches of water but prevented the fire from spreading, Armeta said.

Vancouver firefighters were dispatched shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday to the Bridgeport Retail Center at 316 S.E. 123rd Ave., for a report of a water flow alarm.

The first fire crew to arrive found water on the floor and smoke in Lindo Mexico, Vancouver Fire Department firefighter Eva Scherer said. Crews requested an upgrade to a commercial fire response for additional resources, she said.

One occupant evacuated from the restaurant, and businesses adjacent to the restaurant were also evacuated as a precaution, Scherer said.

Firefighters extinguished a wood stove that was burning and noted several sprinkler head activations in the restaurant and water throughout the structure.  They remained on scene to help with water removal from the building.

Fire damage was confined to a garbage can, pull station for a kitchen hood fire extinguishing system, nearby supplies and a serving counter, Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli said. There was water and smoke damage throughout the rest of the suite, but no other businesses were affected, Scarpelli said.

The fire was caused when the business owner placed ashes from the wood pellet-fired stove into a garbage can in the kitchen. The owner then left the restaurant to get supplies and returned after fire crews had arrived, according to the fire marshal.

The incident caused $58,510 worth of damage, Scarpelli said. The sprinklers likely saved about $5.8 million in potential total loss to the building and its contents, she said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Williamsport, PA – Fire that started inside machine contained by sprinkler activation

All employees at Lycoming Engines at High and Oliver streets in the city were safely evacuated when a deburring machine caught fire on the first floor about 10 a.m. Monday, city Deputy Chief Dave Dymeck said.

The fire activated a sprinkler that helped contain it, Dymeck said, adding that firefighters donned self-contained breathing apparatuses, entered the mammoth complex with hoses and had the fire out in 30 minutes.

Employees were allowed back in once the building was declared safe, Dymeck.

“This was an accidental fire,” he said, adding that fire damage was confined to the machine.

Second alarm companies from Old Lycoming Township and South Williamsport were called to the scene as a precautionary measure.

Office Building, Other Business

Kennesaw, GA – Chemical fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Around 400 people were evacuated from a building on Roberts Boulevard in Kennesaw after a small chemical fire Tuesday morning.

Capt. Joseph Bryant of the Cobb County Fire Department said testing from the county’s hazmat team showed the building was safe to reenter. The chemicals involved include sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and several that are unknown but which were used in minuscule quantities.

Three employees of CryoLife, a medical device company, were working with the chemicals when a reaction set off a small fire and the building’s sprinkler system. The sprinklers extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived at the scene.

One of the three employees was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Bryant said the fire was not as serious as the county’s response would suggest.

“Any time we have a hazmat response, we send a ton of equipment out there,” he said.

As a precaution, firefighters were decontaminated as they left the building.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

New Milford, NJ – Sprinkler system contains fire to single room at nursing home

The residents of a New Milford care facility were safely removed after a small but smoky fire broke out Thursday morning, Chief of Police Brian Clancy said.

Police responded to Woodcrest Center Care One on River Road at about 9 a.m. on a report of fire on the second floor. Officers Darrell Marshall and William Reardon, along with staff, helped get a number of disabled patients out safely, Clancy said.

The small fire, which started on a bed and spread to a wall, was extinguished by the facility’s sprinkler system and contained to a single room, Clancy said. The room was empty when the fire started.

A total of 22 people were treated for smoke inhalation, with 16 going to the hospital. Most of those who suffered smoke inhalation were staff who evacuated patients from the second floor, where the fire broke out.

River Road was closed for two hours before the facility was reopened at around 11 a.m. No one will be displaced due to the fire, Clancy said.

He went on to thank the agencies that responded, including ambulances from Hackensack, Holy Name and Englewood hospitals as well as from Teaneck, Bergenfield, Dumont and River Edge.

“All departments involved worked really well together and we were able to avoid any serious injuries to the residents, employees and emergency personnel. The Care One staff and police officers that were first on scene really did a great job relocating disabled patients from the fire floor,” Clancy said.

Government/Military, Prison / Jail

Sturgeon Bay, WI – County jail kitchen fire put out by fire sprinkler system

There was a bit of a mess, but a sprinkler system in the kitchen at the Door County Jail worked as it was intended to Saturday morning. At about 9:50AM, the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department was paged out and sent two trucks and four firefighters to the kitchen at the Justice Center at 1201 South Duluth Avenue after a fire was reported there. On the way, the fire crew was informed that the fire was out, but another problem had surfaced, the sprinkler system was still dropping water on the kitchen. Upon arrival, the firefighters were able to stop the flow of water in short order. They were told that butter was being melted when it ignited. The container with the burning butter was placed on a nearby cart and the location caused the sprinkler system to activate. The damage was said to be minimal with a little soot above and plenty of water below. The fire crew cleared the scene at 11:09AM Saturday.