Tag Archives: Morning (7am-12pm)

Residential, Single Family Home

Manchester, MD – Residential sprinkler system contained house fire to one bedroom

Damage was confined to one area of the house.

A sprinkler installed in a home in Manchester helped minimize the damage from a house fire.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office says Philip Gray, 85, and his son, Thomas, were moving into a home at 3175 Main Street. Philip Stone was alone in the house late Wednesday morning at around 11:47 when he discovered a fire in a bedroom of the two-story home. He tried to put it out, but the residential sprinkler system was activated. The flames were contained to the bedroom when fire fighters from the Manchester Volunteer Fire Company responded. Personnel used a minimal amount of water to extinguish the remainder of the fire.

Damage is estimated at $35,000  to the home and its contents, and was contained to the bedroom. . The sprinkler activation is crediting with keeping the small fire contained to its area of origin, according to the Fire Marsha’s Office.

Mister Gray refused treatment after sustaining a minor injury to his leg.

Investigators say the cause of the fire was improperly discarded smoking materials.

Officials say the home will be unoccupied for a temporary period of time so that repairs and clean up can take place.

Athletic Club/Sports Facility, Other Business

Kent, WA – Electrical fire at ice rink extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The Kent Valley Ice Centre has reopened after a day after it was shut down by an electrical fire.

Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority responded to a sprinkler alarm at the popular ice rink at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The report was upgraded to a commercial building fire after reports of smoke coming from the compressor room used for the ammonia-based cooling system.

Staff safely evacuated everyone from the building and there were no injuries, according to Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority.

Firefighters found a large electrical panel that had caught fire and activated the sprinkler system. The fire was quickly extinguished and there was no danger of an ammonia leak.

The damage has now been repaired and the ice rink has reopened, according to managers.

The fire is considered accidental, according to the investigator.

Other Business

Sioux Falls, SD – Sprinkler system contains fire in building’s air handling equipment

No one was injured in a structure fire last Thursday morning in north Sioux Falls, according to a news release. Crews responded to a sprinkler system activation around 7:05 a.m. Thursday in the WestRock building at 100 E. Benson Road. A small fire was in the air handling equipment on the roof. Crews used an aerial ladder to access the roof and knock out the fire with a hose and control it within 10 minutes. The fire was started by an overheated electric motor on the air handling unit, according to the release. The fire damaged several hundred square feet of roofing material and caused light smoke inside the building. Activated sprinkler heads contained the fire until fire personnel arrived on scene. Workers were allowed back into the building within an hour of crews arriving on scene.

Office Building

Columbus, OH – Fire in server room at office tower put out with help from sprinkler system

A small fire in a computer server room was quickly contained Wednesday morning at the Rhodes Tower. More than a dozen fire crews responded to the officer tower around 10 a.m. Wednesday on a report of a fire alarm. Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin said there was a small fire in a server room on the 36th floor of the building. A sprinkler system helped put the fire out before most of the firefighters arrived on the scene, Martin said. No injuries were reported and the building is open. East Broad Street was closed for a short time as fire crews needed access to the street.

Apartment Building, Residential

Washington, TX – Boiler room fire in apartment building held in check by sprinkler system

A small fire was quickly extinguished Sunday in an apartment building. The fire started in the boiler room of the five-family apartment on Calhoun Street just before 10 a.m. Sunday, Fire Marshal Tom Osborne said. The room’s sprinkler system kept the fire contained until the Washington Volunteer Fire Department and Northville Volunteer Fire Department arrived. No one displaced, and the room suffered little damage. “There was some (damage), but not much,” Osborne said. “The fire department got their quick and the sprinkler did a good job of holding it.” Fire departments left the building by 12:15 p.m.

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.