Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

Government/Military, Prison / Jail

Santa Rosa, CA – Jail cell arson fire contained with help from sprinkler system

Deputies forced their way into a smoke-filled room at the Sonoma County Jail Monday morning and grabbed an inmate who’d barricaded himself inside, threatened jail staff and started a fire by sticking something into an electrical outlet, according to the Sheriff’s Office.  The incident sent the inmate, identified as Bernabe Martinez Ramirez, 16 jail staff members and four other inmates to the hospital for smoke inhalation, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

In February, Ramirez, 27, was placed into a segregated jail housing unit after he allegedly stabbed another inmate with a hairbrush that was filed to a sharp point, resulting in an attempted murder charge, Crum said. He was originally booked into jail in connection with a June 2017 case that resulted in felony charges of hit and run, obstructing police and attempting to take a gun from an officer.

Inmates like Ramirez are moved into such housing units when they engage in bad behavior such as getting into fights or when they are a risk to staff members, Crum said. They have no physical contact with other inmates, though they can talk to each other from their cells. Trouble at the jail started at about 9 a.m., when Ramirez was alone and taking a scheduled break near his cell in a common room, where inmates segregated from the others have access one by one to amenities like a TV, a bathroom and phone, Crum said.

Deputies noticed Ramirez was tying bed sheets from one door handle to the next, preventing them from opening doors into the room, Crum said. He also covered the room’s floor with soap and pried a manual pencil sharpener off a wall and put it into a sock, using it to threaten correctional staff that watched from a window nearby. “The deputies weren’t going to charge in there and possibly get injured,” Crum said.

A crisis negotiation team was called in and team members spent about 40 minutes trying to talk with him. Meanwhile, Ramirez grabbed toilet paper, another object which the Crum declined to disclose for security reasons, and used it to spark a fire from an electrical outlet.

“He’s able to start a fire and he starts lighting a bunch of toilet paper, sheets and clothing on fire,” Crum said, adding that Ramirez also broke down a wooden cabinet and added it to the flames. “We’re not going to disclose (the object) because we don’t want to see this behavior continue with other inmates.”

The smoke from the small fire activated the facility’s sprinkler system, dousing the room with water. About 15 to 20 deputies stormed into the jail common area, taking Ramirez into custody and using fire extinguishers to put out the flames. The jail was placed on lockdown following the fire, keeping visitors from meeting with inmates.

Santa Rosa firefighters initially dispatched to the jail for a medical aid call at 10:10 a.m. also helped put out the flames, learning of the incident as they were being escorted into the facility to treat an inmate, Santa Rosa fire Battalion Chief Mark Basque said.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s property investigators, which are trained in arson cases, will take the lead in the fire investigation, though Santa Rosa Fire Department investigators will help, Crum said. The common area where the fires were started does not have video surveillance cameras installed, he said.

Roughly 24 inmates living in the housing unit were evacuated and evaluated following the fire, as well as numerous officers. The officers were taken to Kaiser Permanente hospital, while the inmates were transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, Basque said. None of the medical issues were serious, he said.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Plum, PA – Fire in senior apartment building contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Multiple fire departments responded to a stove top fire in a senior citizens apartment building in Plum shortly before noon on Sunday, according to authorities.  Residents of the four-story building along the 600 block of Repp Road were evacuated as smoke filled the building.  Authorities say the fire is believed to have started in an apartment on the fourth floor and was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV.  No one was injured in the blaze, according to Allegheny County Chief Fire Marshal Matt Brown. He said the fire was accidental, and limited and contained by an automatic fire sprinkler system. The American Red Cross was summoned to the scene to provide assistance to residents who may have been displaced as a result of the fire. A web page for the building where the fire was reported lists it as the Retirement Residence of Plum, which is open to people 55 and older who meet certain income requirements.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Wyoming, OH – Fire in high school science classroom activates sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Students at Wyoming High Schools were dismissed early after a small fire broke out in a science classroom last Thursday morning.  In a note to parents, schools officials said the fire started around 9 a.m. and that no one was injured.  The Wyoming Fire Department responded and the fire was extinguished.

The school’s sprinkler system went off, causing wet conditions at the school.  Students were evacuated to the middle school, where they will be dismissed at 11 a.m.  “Students will be reunited with their belongings from the high school as soon as possible,” school officials said.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Minot, ND – Equipment fire at food processing company suppressed by sprinkler system

The Minot Fire Department responded to AGT Food <Friday> morning and upon arrival they could see smoke coming from the exhaust duct on the roof.  It was discovered that a piece of food processing equipment had product burning inside of it.  An automatic sprinkler system extinguished most of the fire but some of it expanded to the exhaust ductwork where residual product was burning.  After the fire department cleared the area, there was concerns that burning product transferred into a holding bin.  With the use of a thermal imaging camera, they discovered there was burning product in the bin and AGT employees emptied it.

Apartment Building, Residential, Restaurant

Sacramento, CA – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in extinguishing restaurant kitchen fire; Apartments above restaurant unaffected

A stove top fire at Localis restaurant in midtown Sacramento on Tuesday morning was contained to the kitchen by firefighters, but mop up from smoke and water damage could sideline the dining spot for several days.  Firefighters were called to the eatery on S Street at 21st Street at 9:07 a.m. when a passerby saw flames inside the business coming from the stove top, said Sacramento Fire Battalion Chief Jim Edmiston at the scene.

No one was inside the building at the time and apartments above the restaurant were not affected by the small blaze. The restaurant said in a statement on its Facebook page: “Its true, we had a small fire in the kitchen early this morning. Everybody is fine and there was minimal damage. We are closing tonight and will reopen tomorrow. We could really use your support this week to recoup from the closure.

Nearby Broadway and downtown fire crews punched through the locked entrance, and with assistance from the restaurant’s sprinkler system they knocked down the flames in about 30 minutes, but firefighters remained on scene to clean up the damage from smoke and water left behind.  “Our goal is to try to get them back in business ASAP,” Edmiston said.  Once cleanup is complete, health inspectors will come in to determine when the restaurant can reopen, Edmiston said.

Other / Not Specified

Utica, NY – Sprinkler system keeps fire in abandoned building from spreading; Firefighters extinguish flames

Fire officials continue to investigate the fire that broke out at an abandoned building in Utica’s brewery district last weekend. Just before 10 a.m. last Saturday, fire crews were called to the building on Stark Street, near the F.X. Matt Brewery, after a person walking by noticed smoke coming from the building. When crews arrived on scene, they found flames and heavy smoke coming from the fourth floor of the building.  Fire officials say that the quick-acting fire could have been much worse, but crews worked quickly to put the fire out without much damage.

“There was a lot of contents up on the fourth floor that had the potential to catch fire,” said Scott Ingersoll, interim chief of the Utica Fire Department. “Fortunately,the sprinkler system activated and it was able to keep the fire contained. And what our firefighters did was go in and finish putting it out.”  Officials are still working to determine the cause of the fire.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Las Vegas, NV – Arson fire in elementary school bathroom put out by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire was reported Tuesday morning in a Las Vegas elementary school boys’ bathroom, according to a fire official.  Crews responded to John Park Elementary on Franklin Avenue, near Charleston Boulevard and Maryland Parkway, for a fire in an outside playground bathroom, reported just after 8:50 a.m.  The sprinkler was activated and put out the fire. The school was evacuated, according to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, but no injuries were reported.  The fire was started in a trash can full of paper towels, and it did not spread to anything nearby.

Other - Manufacturing

Modesto, CA – Sprinkler system gives firefighters a big leg up on blaze at cabinet company

A fire-suppression system worked well Tuesday morning at a business off Yosemite Boulevard and Mitchell Road, likely saving firefighters a lot of work and the building a lot of damage.  The fire was in a dust-collection hopper on the exterior of Sierra Casework, on the 200 block of Spenker Avenue. The company is less than half a mile from Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District Station 31 on Mitchell Road.

Initially, there was heavy smoke from the fire, Stanislaus Consolidated Capt. Mark Jacobs said. But the sprinkler system kicked in and quickly knocked down the flames, and the smoke had largely dissipated upon crews’ arrival.

“We have several of these cabinet shops in our district,” Jacobs said, “and these (dust fires) are pretty common. Throughout the cabinet shop are a bunch of vacuum systems, and the main port sucks all the dust out here and they discard it.”

To ensure the fire was out, firefighters used a ladder truck to get on the roof and to the door of the collection hopper. Opening the door, a firefighter called down that there still was a small amount of fire. The door was shut so as to not feed the fire oxygen while a hose line was carried up the hopper’s built-in ladder. Then firefighters made quick work of fully extinguishing the fire.

Department Store, Retail

Ocala, FL – Arson fire at Macy’s store extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Police in Ocala, FL, are looking for the woman who lit a rack of underwear on fire inside a Macy’s store Tuesday morning. The suspect walked into the store’s Paddock Mall location at 10:11 a.m. and wandered around for 45 minutes. Firefighters arrived shortly after she left and saw light smoke coming from the mall’s north entrance, according to the Ocala StarBanner.

“It was a bunch of smoke rolling out and people were walking – running outside,” witness Kortnee Eubanks told WFTV. The sprinkler system had already extinguished the flames, but needed to be reset and fans were brought in to help ventilate the store.  Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Officer Meghan Shay told local media the store’s staff thought they were smelling gas.  The mall released a statement on its website Tuesday that announced the store would remain closed the remainder of that day.

“The safety of our shoppers, retailers and employees is our top priority. We are working closely with the Ocala Police Department as they investigate this incident further,” the statement said. The woman left the store, but surveillance cameras captured her vehicle, which appears to be a dark gray sedan.

Anyone who recognizes this person or vehicle should call Ocala police at 352-369-7000. Once arrested, she will face an arson charge.

Hotel / Motel

Cleveland, OH – Fire in utility room at Four Points by Sheraton hotel is put out by sprinkler system

Several rooms at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel were damaged when a fire broke out Saturday morning in a small utility room.  The hotel’s sprinkler system was able to put out the fire, according to firefighters.  One person injured their knee and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, authorities said. Some of the rooms were heavily damaged by water and smoke damage.   The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.