Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Niles, MI – Sprinkler system contains pantry fire at nursing home

Around 8 a.m. Monday, the Niles fire department responded to a pantry fire that broke out at Chalet of Niles, a nursing and memory care center at 911 S. Third St.

Firefighters arrived to find the fire contained by a sprinkler head that was set off. No fire damage occurred.

A few residents were briefly evacuated during the fire, and one staff member who inhaled smoke and was sent to Spectrum Health — Lakeland’s hospital in Niles.

Fire chief Larry Lamb said the incident brought about two lessons.

First was the importance of properly taking care of items with oils on them. While the investigation is not yet complete, he said the department was confident that the fire started by rags that had been used to sop up oils in the kitchen.

Lamb said fires like this start when oiled rags are washed, dried and left in a compacted state, such as in a full laundry basket. The heat and the compacted nature lead to residue oil on the rags catching fire.

“If they do have to clean up those types of things, either don’t launder [the rags] or make sure that once you do launder them, they’re put in a safe place until they’re completely cool,” he said.

The second lesson Lamb thought the incident brought about was the importance of a sprinkler system. If a sprinkler head had not detected the fire, the situation could have been much worse.

“A lot of people say, ‘Well, what about the water damage?’ said Lamb, referring to discussions on sprinkler systems. “If there’s water damage, it’s only there because there would’ve been fire damage, which is much, much worse.”

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Kent, WA – Fire held in check at paper recycling plant by fire sprinkler system

An automatic sprinkler system activated and held a fire in check Thursday morning at a Kent paper and cardboard recycling plant.

At 8:32 a.m. employees at IP Recycling, 1225 Sixth Ave. N., noticed fire in a paper bailer and immediately began to soak down the machine, according to a Puget Sound Fire news release.

As the fire grew, the automatic sprinkler system activated and held the fire in check. With the smoke growing in the warehouse the employees called 911 and evacuated the structure.

Puget Sound Engine 71 arrived to find smoke coming out of the main roll up door and so pulled hose lines and began to extinguish the fire. Puget Sound Ladder 74 went to the roof to make sure there was no damage above the fire.

Tukwila Fire and other Puget Sound units arrived but were not needed as the fire was out and contained to the bailer area.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Bennington, NH – Sprinkler system controlled fire at Paper Mill until fire crews arrived

Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at Monadnock Paper Mills in Bennington Thursday morning around 9:45 a.m.

On scene, Monadnock Paper Mills Vice President of Human Resources Bill Peterson said the fire was caused by overheated ball bearings in a fan above one of the paper machines. The fan is above the mill’s machinery and is part of the buildings venting and cooling system.

The building is equipped with a sprinkler system, which was activated until fire crews arrived and were able to get the fire under control.

There were roughly 25 employees in the area where the fire started, Peterson said, who activated the fire protocols before evacuating with the entirety of the rest of the plant.

Peterson said the Monadnock Paper Mill’s 200 employees have multiple fire drills every year, and were able to follow those plans, and account for everyone.

“Folks got out when they were told to get out, and everything worked the way it was supposed to,” Peterson said. “This is why we do this.”

Bennington Deputy Fire Chief Keith Nason said when crews first arrived, they got the initial fire under control quickly, but then discovered the fire had spread into the ceiling, at which point he called for a second alarm.

“With an older building like this, which is very segmented, it can spread very quickly through the vent system, which it started in,” Nason said.

Fire crews remained on scene until noon, checking for fire burning in the ceiling or vents.

Peterson said he didn’t know how much damage had been caused yet, but said he had spoken with Antrim Fire Chief Marshall Gale, a former long-time employee of the plant, who knew the machinery and was assured repairs could likely be done in a few days.

“From that, we’re assuming the damage was minimal,” Peterson said. “We may have smoke damage and a whole lot of water to mop up.”

Peterson said the Paper Mill is not shut down, and that most employees would be able to return to work after the power – shut off during firefighting operations – was returned to the building. Before fire crews left the property maintenance staff had already been allowed to re-enter the building to assess the damage.

“We give our thanks to all the fire departments who showed up. It was a quick response, and very much appreciated by the 200 employees we have here,” Peterson said.

Bennington crews were assisted on the scene by fire crews from Antrim, Peterborough, Hillsborough, Hancock and Greenfield.

Apartment Building, Residential

Middleborough, MA – Sprinkler system controls fire caused by unattended cooking

Just after 7:00am Tuesday morning, the Middleborough Fire Department received an automatic alarm at the Central Fire Station indicating a heat detector activation, immediately followed by another alarm indicating a sprinkler activation at the Shoe Shop Place, 151 Peirce Street.

Car 91 (Shift Commander), Car 93 (Code Enforcement) and Engine 1 were dispatched from Central Fire Station and Engine 6 from South Station. Upon arrival firefighters encountered a kitchen fire in a first floor apartment that was mostly extinguished by the sprinkler system.

Firefighters extinguished the remaining fire, made sure it did not extend beyond the apartment of origin, and secured the sprinkler system keeping the damage to a minimum.

The five occupants were alerted of the fire from the alarm system and quickly evacuated.

“It appears the fire was due to unattended cooking,” said Middleborough Fire Chief Lance Benjamino. The alarm system and the sprinkler system did their job and the firefighters did a tremendous job at controlling this fire and the damag.”

Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, the chief added, and offered a few cooking safety tips.

Other - School / University, School / University

Meadville, PA – Fire started by students in paint mixing room quickly stopped from spreading by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A fire set intentionally by students at the Crawford County Career and Technical Center on Thursday was extinguished almost immediately by the facility’s sprinkler system, according to Chief Evan Hasko of Meadville Central Fire Department.

The fire, which was reported at 8:58 a.m., was contained to a paint mixing room in the school’s auto collision technology department, according to Hasko and Crawford County 911.

“We had a little incident at the vo-tech this morning,” Hasko said. “The sprinkler system did what it was supposed to do.

No one was injured, Hasko said, and the damage, primarily caused by the water that extinguished the fire, was minimal.

Hasko described the paint mixing area where the students set the fire as a booth not quite 8-by-10 feet in area.  

Firefighters checked that the fire had been completely extinguished and shut off the water supply to the sprinkler system when they arrived, according to Hasko.

Three students were involved in setting the fire, Hasko said, and they were “turned over to school officials and law enforcement to handle.”

Hasko declined to identify the students, citing their status as minors.

“They fessed up,” Hasko said of the students. “I’m sure their parents aren’t going to be happy to get a call.”

Apartment Building, Residential

Santa Rosa, CA – Garbage fire minimized by fire sprinkler activation; No injuries reported

Working sprinklers inside a garbage enclosure at a Santa Rosa apartment complex may have helped prevent a much more serious blaze than the one Sunday morning that did about $5,000 in damage, Santa Rosa firefighters said. 

Fifteen firefighters and four trucks responded at about 9:45 a.m. Sunday to the apartment complex in the 1100 block of Fourth Street. Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from an enclosed garbage room on the first floor of a three-story apartment building, firefighters said. 

The flames were contained to two dumpsters inside the garbage enclosure, where most of the damage was. Several apartments suffered minor smoke damage. 

Occupants of the building were evacuated for a short time while the fire was brought under control and the smoke removed from the apartments. No firefighters or apartment occupants were injured. 

It took firefighters about 15 minutes to put out the fire. 

A working fire sprinkler in the trash chute likely prevented flames to spread to the floor above the garbage room, firefighters said. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. 

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Portsmouth, NH – Sprinkler system contains fire originating on outside wall of hotel

Firefighters on Thursday morning responded to a fire that appears to have started in an outside wall at the Anchorage Inn and Suites off Woodbury Avenue.

Interim Fire Chief Todd Germain said the department received multiple calls about the fire about 11:25 a.m.

When firefighters arrived, they saw “heavy flames” coming from a back wall at the hotel and they were able to quickly knock it down, Germain said at the scene.

Germain did not know immediately how many people were staying at the hotel at the time of the fire, but said everyone was evacuated safely.

After knocking the fire down, firefighters remained on scene as they dug into the outside wall to look into the interior and pour water on it.

“We’re just trying to make sure there’s no fires hidden inside the walls,” Germain said.

One sprinkler system did go off because of the fire, Germain said, but there appeared to be little or no significant damage to the inside of the hotel.

He planned to work with hotel management and city inspectors to see if hotel guests could return to their rooms Thursday, Germain said.

Firefighters could be seen washing down each other’s uniforms at the scene Thursday.

“That’s something we do as part of our protocol to make sure we’re not leaving any carcinogens on our uniform,” he said.

In addition to Portsmouth, firefighters from Kittery, Maine, and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard responded to the one-alarm fire, he said.

The Anchorage Inn and Suites is near the Woodbury Avenue bridge, which was removed and is in the process of being replaced. The bridge closure did not slow the arrival of firefighters, Germain said.

“We know our way around,” he said with a smile.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Crystal Lake, IL – Sprinkler system contains fire at auto body shop; No injuries reported

A fire at Crystal Lake Auto Body is under investigation after it caused $35,000 in damage Monday morning, fire officials said.

The Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department was called at 11:23 a.m. Monday to Crystal Lake Auto Body, 7218 North Virginia Road, for a report of a structure fire.

The first fire crew arrived on scene in four minutes and reported a working fire with smoke coming from the roof, fire officials said. The occupants of the building were able to evacuate before the fire department arrived.

An offensive attack strategy was used and crews entered into the building with a hose line while another hose line was deployed to the roof to extinguish the fire. The building had working fire alarms that activated and a working sprinkler system that activated, containing the fire from spreading elsewhere in the building.

There were no injuries to the occupants or firefighters. The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was utilized, bringing firefighters from Algonquin, Barrington-Countryside, Carpentersville, Cary, Huntley, Marengo, McHenry, Nunda Rural, West Dundee and Wonder Lake to assist.

The fire was deemed under control around 25 minutes later at 11:48 a.m. Damage was estimated at $35,000.

The owners of AAMCO Crystal Lake, which shares the building with Crystal Lake Auto Body, posted on Facebook after the fire.

“We at AAMCO & Hankook Tire were fortunate today. The tenant in the rear of our building, Crystal Lake Auto Body, had a fire in their paint booth. The Crystal Lake Fire Department was awesome. They seemed to get there right after the sprinklers went off,” the owners said.

“AAMCO had no damage in its building, and AAMCO is open for business. Thank you all who have asked,” the owners added.

Apartment Building, Residential

Des Plaines, IL – Sprinkler system keeps apartment fire in check until firefighters arrive

Firefighters from four area departments responded to a six-floor apartment building in Des Plaines to extinguish an apartment fire today (Tuesday).

Deputy Des Plaines Fire Chief Pete Dyer said when firefighters responded to the top floor unit in a building on Brown Street near Laurel Avenue at approximately 11:12 a.m., they found the apartment ablaze with flames “kept in check” by an activated sprinkler system.

Dyer said firefighters hooked a hose into the building’s standpipe system and had the fire under control by 11:40 a.m. He said all residents had evacuated the building by the time firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported.

Firefighters from Des Plaines, Niles, the North Maine Fire Protection District and Rosemont responded with fire trucks and ambulances.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Frisco, CO – Condo fire quickly put out with help of fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Six residents have been displaced following a structure fire at a condo complex in Frisco on Friday morning, according to Summit Fire & EMS.

Summit Fire chief Jeff Berino said that a structure fire broke out on the 500 block of Galena Street in Frisco at about 10:30 a.m. on Friday. About 24 firefighters from both Summit Fire and the Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District responded to the incident. The blaze was put out quickly by the firefighters, with help from the building’s sprinkler system, and crews cleared the scene by 12:45 p.m.

Berino said that the cause of the fire is still under investigation, though it has been determined that there was no criminal involvement. One unit suffered moderate smoke and fire damage, and two other units suffered smoke and water damage. No injuries were reported.