Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

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.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Danvers, MA – Fire sprinkler quickly puts out fire started in school bathroom by student

A 15-year-old juvenile is suspected of setting a fire in a bathroom at Danvers High School on Wednesday that caused thousands of dollars of damage and forced the school to evacuate and dismiss students for the day.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but students were dismissed due to a sprinkler activation and the need for cleanup, according to a press release from the Danvers Police Department.

Police said a 15-year-old from Danvers has been identified as the suspect and that criminal charges are pending. Officials described the incident as an “intentional act of vandalism.”

Firefighters and police responded to a fire alarm at Danvers High School on Cabot Road at 8:12 a.m. The alarm triggered the evacuation of students by staff. The fire was discovered in the third-floor men’s bathroom and was quickly extinguished, officials said.

The Danvers Police Department’s criminal investigation division is working with the Essex District Attorney’s Office on pending criminal charges.

Afternoon and evening events were scheduled to take place as scheduled at Danvers High School on Wednesday, and school will be open for a regular school day on Thursday, school officials said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Rapid City, SD – Single sprinkler head controls cooking fire from grill at apartment complex

A sprinkler system has again helped to extinguish a fire in a Rapid City apartment building.

When Rapid City firefighters responded to a report of a fire around 10 a.m. Sunday at 4226 Kateland St., they found light smoke and water flowing from an outside deck of the three-story apartment, according to a news release. A resident was cooking on a grill when a cooking fire broke out that was quickly controlled by the sprinkler head on the balcony. The building was not damaged.

This marks the sixth time since the beginning of the year that a sprinkler system has helped put out a fire in Rapid City, the news release says. Four of the incidents happened in apartment buildings, one was at a correctional facility and one was at a large commercial building. The most recent incident happened last Friday, when a sprinkler system helped put out a fire in a second-floor bedroom. 

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Huntsville, AL – Sprinkler system helps contain fire in craft department of Walmart

Shoppers were evacuated from the Walmart on Sparkman Drive after a fire started in the craft department on Thursday morning.

Huntsville Police asked for the public’s help to identify a man wanted for questioning in connection with the Walmart fire and for a second fire that happened at Michaels on Airport Road on Thursday. They said that thanks to a tip on their post, the man was identified.

Police say Robert Charles Makowski is charged with two counts of first-degree arson. Makowski is currently being held in the Madison County Jail and bond has not been set at this time.

Captain Frank McKenzie with Huntsville Fire & Rescue (HFR) said around 9:15 a.m. firefighters were called to the store on a report that a rooftop AC unit was on fire. When officials arrived, they learned the arts and crafts department caught fire and the sprinklers went off.

People were evacuated into the store parking lot and the store was closed when firefighters arrived.

Capt. McKenzie says that the area that burned was roughly eight feet in length, six feet deep, and ten feet tall. He says there is standing water in the building that covers approximately 12,000 square feet.

Walmart was closed on Thursday.

The Sparkman Drive Walmart told WHNT News 19 they re-opened at 8 a.m. Friday.

The fire department is still investigating the fire.

Retail, Shopping Mall

Knoxville, TN – Fire at mall food court contained by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

Anchor store have begun reopening in West Town Mall after the mall evacuated Friday morning due to a small fire in the Food Court area.

The Knoxville fire department was alerted to a fire at approximately 11 a.m. in West town Mall.

Fire department crews discovered a small fire in the rear of three restaurants located in the Food Court.

The fire sprinkler system contained the fire and crews were able to continue extinguishment. No one was injured.

The mall was evacuated as a precaution and anchor stores have begun to reopen to customers.

The fire is under investigation and no cause has been determined. All Mall entrances are blocked to incoming traffic.