Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

Apartment Building, Residential

Apple Valley, MN – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in extinguishing apartment fire

A woman was transported to a hospital after a Dec. 9 fire broke out at her apartment in Apple Valley. The Apple Valley Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a fire in an apartment at 6583 158th St. W. at 10:10 a.m. Dec. 9. Someone was reportedly in the apartment and couldn’t get out, said Acting Fire Chief Chuck Russell.

When firefighters arrived, the fire was contained within one apartment unit on the third floor. Apple Valley police officers and Allina paramedics were already on the third floor trying to gain access to the door which was locked. They were able to enter the apartment but were unable to reach the woman inside because of heavy smoke conditions. One officer and one paramedic took themselves to the hospital as a precautionary measure, Russell said. Russell said firefighters were able to get the woman out of the apartment. There were flames in the living room, which were extinguished by the firefighters and the apartment building’s sprinkler system that had been activated.

The woman was transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation and light burns, Russell said. The fire department was on the scene for about two and a half hours and was assisted at the scene by the Lakeville Fire Department. Russell said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the department believes it started in the living room. That unit was had fire damage and the unit below had water damage, so the occupants had to evacuate.

He noted that the damage to the overall building would have been more extensive without the sprinkler system. “The sprinkler systems really do a nice job of controlling that fire for us,” he said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Chicago, IL – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in extinguishing fire at mattress factory

Chicago firefighters were called to a report of a fire in a mattress factory in West Garfield Park on Sunday morning, officials reported. About 7:40 a.m. emergency responders first were called to 4444 W. Ohio St. on the West Side for a report of a fire at a mattress factory. The building was evacuated and no one was reported injured, according to tweets from the Chicago Fire Department.  The fire later became a two-alarm fire, meaning additional resources were needed. In one tweet, the Chicago Fire Department said water was on the fire, both from a sprinkler system inside the building that activated and from firefighters trying to combat the flames. In another, officials said they were working to ventilate the building. In a tweet just after 9 a.m., officials reported the fire was out and an extensive ventilation and overhaul was in progress. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Wichita, KS – Sprinkler system holds apartment fire in check until crews arrive

A fire damaged some apartments in downtown Wichita Tuesday. It happened around 8:30 a.m. near 3rd and St. Francis.  Authorities said the fire was contained to one apartment. Fire caused damage to the kitchen area. “We had on sprinkler head go off, and it kept the fire in check. We had the smoke alarm going off notifying the people that could hear it as well,” said Fire Marshal Stuart Bevis, Wichita Fire Department.  The cause of the fire is under investigation. It is believed to be accidental.  Water and smoke caused some damage to nearby apartments.

Retail

Estero, FL – Sprinkler system limits spread of stockroom fire at Michael Kors outlet shop

The Michael Kors shop at Miromar Outlets in Estero was closed Monday after a fire last Thursday, according to a fire official.  The fire was caused by sparks from a light over storage racks in a backroom, said Susan Lindenmuth, director of public affairs with Estero Fire Rescue.  The fire was investigated by the Lee County Fire-Arson Task Force along with the State Fire Marshal’s Office and was initially contained by two fire sprinklers.

The fire was fully extinguished when crews from Estero Fire Rescue, San Carlos Park and Bonita Springs Fire Control arrived shortly after 11 a.m., Lindenmuth said.  Extensive smoke damage was noted throughout the store, although fire damage was contained to the storeroom by the sprinkler system, Lindenmuth said.  The smoke damage to the store’s merchandise was extensive, which is why the damage was so costly, Lindenmuth said.

A couple of stores near Michael Kors suffered some smoke and water damage, including Vineyard Vines, Sunglass Hut and Swarovski, said Jeff Staner, vice president of Miromar Outlets.  Staner said he was unsure when the Michael Kors shop would reopen.  Sunglass Hut reopened Monday, Swarovski is expected to reopen Tuesday, and Vineyard Vines on Thursday, Staner said.

Fire-damaged debris was piled outside the Michael Kors shop, and part of the shopping area at the outlets was blocked off with caution tape after the fire Thursday.  For safety reasons, firefighters cut power to the building where Michael Kors is located, which meant other shops and restaurants in the same building had no power and were closed part of the day Thursday, Lindenmuth said.

Power was restored to the affected areas late Thursday afternoon, Staner said.  “They did a good job of evacuating everybody, and the employees from Michael Kors let the other stores know to evacuate,” Lindenmuth said.  Multiple stores were evacuated. No injuries were reported from the fire.

Other - Manufacturing, Other Business

Elkton, MD – Authorities credit sprinkler system with extinguishing blaze in chemical mixing room

Investigators are crediting a sprinkler system for extinguishing a blaze Monday morning inside a chemical mixing room at a medical products plant in Elkton, allowing the three employees in that area to escape safely, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office.  Workers called 911 at approximately 7:15 a.m. Monday, after discovering the fire inside a Terumo Medical Corp. building in the 100 block of Blue Ball Road, fire officials said. About 10 firefighters with Singerly Volunteer Fire Co. of Elkton and Aetna Hook, Hose and Ladder Co. in Newark, Del., responded to the call, but the blaze had been extinguished by the time they arrived, fire officials added.

“The fire was contained to the chemical room after the sprinkler system activated,” said Sr. Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver J. Alkire, an agency spokesman, adding, “Three employees inside the room were able to safely escape.”  Investigators estimated that that part of the building sustained $25,000 in structural damage, according to Alkire, who further reported that no other property was damaged. Investigators identified the property owner as Terumo Medical Corp., which manufactures medical devices and supplies.

Fire detectives listed the cause of the blaze as accidental, after concluding that static electricity inside the chemical mixing room triggered the fire, Alkire said. Because the fire occurred in a place containing chemicals, he added, the Cecil County Hazmat Team also was dispatched to the scene.

Apartment Building, Residential

Stamford, CT – Apartment kitchen fire extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries to occupants

A late morning fire in downtown damaged an apartment on Clinton Avenue, according to fire officials.  A post on the Stamford Fire Department web site stated that, at 11:40 a.m., the city’s 9-1-1 center received an automatic fire alarm for 40 Clinton Ave., a downtown high rise apartment building.  The post said that arriving firefighters were advised that water was coming from an apartment on the fifth floor. When firefighters arrived on the floor they reportedly encountered lots of smoke and found an activated sprinkler in an apartment.

Other fire companies were called to the scene while firefighters stretched a hose from the standpipe to the fire apartment, the post read.  Fire officials said investigators discovered that cooking oil had ignited and, when the occupant attempted to extinguish the fire with water, the fire flared up and activated a sprinkler overhead and fire was extinguished. The fire was declared under control at 11:52 a.m. The occupant of the apartment had evacuated prior to fire department arrival and suffered no injuries.

The two occupants of the apartment were displaced and will be staying with friends and family. A total of four engine companies, one truck company, the heavy rescue company, and the duty deputy chief responded with a total of 27 firefighters. Stamford Police responded as well to provide traffic control. The city fire marshal’s office responded for cause and origin determination. The final fire department unit left the scene at 1 p.m.

The National Fire Protection Association reports that cooking fires are the top cause of home fires and injuries, and the leading cause of fires in the kitchen is unattended cooking.

Office Building, Other Business

Edina, MN – Fire at office building extinguished by sprinkler system

Officials in Edina have said that a fire that damaged a business on Bush Lake Road earlier this week was started by a charging cellphone.

The Edina Fire Department was called to employee engagement company BI Worldwide at 7:33 a.m. Tuesday when the building’s sprinkler system was triggered.

It was later established that an employee sitting in her cubicle saw sparks coming from her charging cellphone that “quickly ignited nearby combustibles.”

Workers were able to extinguish the flames and leave the building, only for the fire to re-ignite before being knocked down by the sprinkler system.

One worker had to be taken to Fairview Southdale Hospital with smoke inhalation.

The fire damage was contained to just four cubicles, but the building itself suffered water and smoke damage.

“It’s great that BI Worldwide had fire extinguishers in place and employees knew how to use them, but most importantly, employees exited the building and the fire sprinkler system extinguished the fire, keeping the fire damage to a minimum, which will allow them to reoccupy this building sometime soon,” said Fire Marshal Rick Hammerschmidt in a press release.

“This is another great example of the value of having a fire sprinkler system in a building or in a home. If this building didn’t have a fire sprinkler system, BI Worldwide may not have been able to reoccupy this building.

“The content damage and impact on business and employees would have been extreme.”

College/University (on campus), School / University

Oxford, OH – Car fire doused by garage sprinkler system at Miami University

A car caught fire in Miami University’s North Garage near Farmer School of Business on Friday morning just before 10 a.m.

Haolin Xi, a sophomore Japanese major, noticed smoke coming from the hood of his Audi A4 immediately after parking in the garage. He exited the vehicle and saw the smoke had been replaced by flames. Xi poured a bottle of water on the fire, to no avail. He then flagged down a woman who called the police on his behalf.

No other vehicles were harmed by the fire, and it was quickly doused by the garage’s sprinkler system and contained by the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) and Oxford Fire Department (OFD) first responders. According to the notice posted on myMiami, one MUPD officer was treated for smoke inhalation. There were no other injuries.

Benton Hall, which is situated on top of the garage, was evacuated, but the fire alarm system did not go off and students were not notified until professors were told to evacuate the students.

Xi is unsure of what caused the fire to start.

Other-Government/Military, Recycling / Waste Facility

Redding, CA – Fire at solid waste facility extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Redding firefighters went to the city’s solid waste facility Saturday morning to extinguish a fire that was traced to some sort of hazardous material someone had recently dumped.  A city of Redding employee was operating a dump loader that came into contact with the “unknown material” that someone had recently dropped off, the fire department said.  The fire quickly grew in the pile of garage and the city’s airport rescue firefighting equipment was called in to spray foam on the blaze.  The fire activated the facility’s sprinkler system so an overhead water nozzle also helped crews. Four engines, a ladder truck and 17 firefighters responded.  No one was injured and firefighters spent two-and-a-half hours at the scene.  The fire department offered this safety message: “To prevent accidental fire through the reactions of chemicals, please discern the difference when dumping solid household waste as compared to hazardous materials.“

Apartment Building, Residential

Tolland, CT – Stove top fire at apartment complex extinguished by sprinkler system

Officials in Tolland responded to a stove top fire at an apartment complex Saturday morning.

Crews responded to 86 Buffcap Road after receiving a report of a fire alarm going off in an apartment complex.

Officials say the fire was put out with a sprinkler. Two units are uninhabitable while crews continue to asses the water damage. 

The Tolland Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.

There are no reports of any injuries.