Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Vernon Hills, IL – Laundry fire at senior living complex contained by sprinkler system June 23, 2017 viking210 A fire broke out in a Vernon Hills senior living complex’s laundry room Tuesday morning, but officials from the Countryside Fire Protection District say a sprinkler system and collapsible doors contained the fire until crews arrived. The fire started in a dryer on the fifth floor of the Victory Centre of Vernon Hills, 97 W. Phillip Road, shortly after 9 a.m. No one was injured in the blaze, according to a statement issued by Countryside Fire Chief Jeff Steingart. “Quick and decisive actions by the Victory Centre staff as well as the emergency response and the fire sprinkler controlling the fire clearly averted a potential tragedy,” Steingart said. Approximately 110 residents and 25 employees were inside the building when the fire started, according to Steingart. He said investigators are still trying to determine why the dryer caught fire. The incident was deemed a structure fire and Countryside was assisted by crews from Libertyville, Mundelein and Lincolnshire. Smoke and heat was contained inside the laundry room and fresh oxygen kept outside by automated doors that closed, Steingart said. He said the laundry room had one sprinkler that functioned properly and limited the fire until crews arrived. A few residents will be temporarily relocated during the cleanup and investigation, Steingart said.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Marshfield, MA – Trashcan fire in high school woodshop put out with help from sprinkler system June 21, 2017 viking210 The building has been deemed safe after a trashcan fire at Marshfield High School activated the sprinkler system. There were no injuries. The Marshfield fire department responded to an alarm at the school at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. A custodian pulled the alarm after finding a fire in a trashcan in the wood shop area. The building’s sprinkler system and the fire department put out the fire. The shop has extensive smoke and water damage, and the rest of the building was also lightly damaged by smoke, Fire Chief William Hocking said in a statement. The trash barrel was next to a table saw in the shop. The fire has been deemed accidental. The building was occupied at the time, but no injuries were reported.
Retail, Shopping Mall Concord, NC – Sprinkler system helps put out fire at shopping mall; No injuries reported June 13, 2017 viking210 A fire at Concord Mills Wednesday morning caused the mall to evacuate employees and shoppers for a brief time. Officials say the fire began inside an exhaust fan in the bathroom of the FYE store around 9:15 a.m. Concord Fire Chief Ray Allen says the sprinkler system kicked on and was able to help put out the fire. While the fire was not huge, crews are grateful it happened so early in the morning when the mall was not more crowded. Most of the stores reopened inside the mall around 11 a.m. No one was injured.
Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Baxter, MN – Balcony fire at senior apartment complex controlled with help from sprinkler system June 9, 2017 viking210 Passing motorists on Excelsior Road saw flames on a third-floor deck of a senior apartment complex Friday morning, alerting emergency responders to the Autumn Glenn complex in Baxter. The fire was reported about 7:20 a.m. At the scene, Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said residents on the third floor were evacuated as a precaution. Many had multiple questions as they were temporarily relocated. The 50-unit apartment building has about 16 units on each floor. Brainerd Fire Chief Tim Holmes said the fire was contained to the deck but flames were climbing the wall and around the glass deck door, as well as a window when he arrived on scene. Holmes got the call when he just blocks away from the building. He said deck sprinkler played an important role in keeping the fire contained. The woman living in the apartment was also working to put the fire using a container or bowl filled with water when firefighters arrived. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire. The deck remained secure to walk on, Holmes said. Siding was removed around the deck. The torn aqua-colored barrier wrap, formerly underneath the siding, flapped in the morning breeze. The area around the deck doors was charred black and holes were cut above the deck to access the attic. Holiday decorations hung from the deck rail, trailing down to lower floors. The second floor resident’s deck just below the fire, complete with chairs and potted plant, appeared undisturbed. No injuries were reported. Karen Struthers, community manager for Autumn Glenn, said all the residents were fine. She said the apartment occupant was with family and the complex residents would now have conversation fodder for the weekend. It was too early to determine the extent of the damage in terms of a dollar amount, Struthers said.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Charleston, SC – Arson fire at charter school suppressed by sprinkler system June 3, 2017 viking210 Authorities are investigating after someone intentionally started a fire at a Charleston school. The fire happened just before 10 a.m. at the Charleston Charter School of Math and Science on King Street. When firefighters arrived they found the school evacuation under way and were told of a fire in a bathroom on the second floor. “Crews entered to find a single fire sprinkler head that was activated and contained the fire to the bathroom area,” CFD officials said.”Firefighters completed extinguishment and proceeded to control the water flow to the sprinkler system and evacuate smoke from the building.” A report states members of the Fire Marshal Division responded to investigate the incident and determined the fire was intentionally set in the bathroom. Fire investigators along with the Charleston Police Department and the school administration are reviewing the incident. “Once the smoke was removed from the building the majority of the school reoccupied, one area of the school remained closed as staff worked to clean smoke and water damage,” CFD officials said. No injuries were reported. The Charleston Fire Department, North Charleston and Saint Andrews fire departments, Charleston County EMS, and the Charleston Police Department responded to the scene.
Residential, Single Family Home Asheville, NC – Fire in duplex extinguished by residential sprinkler system June 2, 2017 viking210 A sprinkler system extinguished a structure fire Wednesday and helped the occupants escape safely, according to an Asheville Fire Department spokeswoman. The Asheville Fire Department responded to a possible structure fire off Old Chunns Cove Road around 7 a.m. Wednesday, said department spokeswoman Kelley Klope. The duplex is east of downtown Asheville near Tunnel Road. Light smoke was visible from one of the units in a duplex complex with four separate homes when firefighters arrived on scene, she said. “When firefighters entered the building, they observed that the residential sprinkler system had activated and had extinguished the fire, minimizing fire damage and possibly saving lives,” she said. Klope called this incident a success story. “Oftentimes stories like these, where there is no fire damage or injury, have little to report and therefore go unnoticed,” she said. “We cannot stress enough the importance of installing residential sprinkler systems in order to prevent death or injury and to minimize fire damage to personal belongings.”
Government/Military, Prison / Jail Gadsden, AL – Detention center sprinkler system helps stop fire allegedly set by ICE detainee May 31, 2017 viking210 An investigation is underway after an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainee reportedly set a fire inside a maximum-security unit at the Etowah County Detention Center. According to the Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin, the fire was reported around 7:43 a.m. Friday in Unit 3. A detainee allegedly sparked a fire inside the common area of the unit, then set his mattress on fire inside his cell. The fire activated the sprinkler system inside the unit. Entrekin says the detainee, along with four others, were outside their cells on free time when it happened. The detainees involved are reported to be from the Middle East and Asia. “All inmates and detainees are accounted for inside the detention center. This was an isolated incident inside Unit 3 and no other units were ever in danger during the event. At this time, there is no need to evacuate any inmates or detainees to other facilities,” a press release emailed to media said. “There are no serious injuries to anyone inside the facility. Inmates who have complained with breathing issues received immediate medical attention and have been returned back to their unit. All Sheriff’s Office employees have also been checked and cleared by medical personnel.” Sheriff Entrekin said in the release: “I want to personally thank the Gadsden Fire Department for their quick and professional response. They did an excellent job in containing the fire. Words cannot express my appreciation and gratitude to the employees of the Sheriff’s Office, especially those inside the detention center. The detention deputies acted quickly to ensure the safety of all inside Unit 3. Their noble actions saved lives today.”
Apartment Building, Residential Arlington, VA – Apartment fire extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries May 24, 2017 viking210 Arlington County firefighters are on scene of an apartment fire in the Long Bridge Creek neighborhood. The fire was reported in the bedroom of an apartment on the 2600 block of S. Veitch Street around 8:45 a.m. It was extinguished within 10 minutes of firefighters arriving on scene, before it could spread to other apartments. No injuries were reported. Scanner traffic suggests the building’s sprinkler system was activated by the fire. The fire marshal’s office is now investigating the cause of the blaze.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Burley, ID – Arson fire at elementary school extinguished by sprinkler system May 22, 2017 viking210 A student is suspected of lighting a roll of toilet paper and some paper towels on fire Friday damaging a bathroom and temporarily evacuating White Pine Intermediate School. “The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system,” Debbie Critchfield, spokeswoman for the district said. An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Burley Fire Department and the Cassia County Sheriff’s Office. The fire was started around 9 a.m. in the fourth-grade wing in the boys’ bathroom. “They have a suspect,” Critchfield said. The fire department was called to the school and the firefighters made sure the blaze was extinguished. The firefighters then reset the sprinkler system, which meant the fire system was down for about an hour at the school. Students were returned to their classrooms, except for the two classes that were affected by the cleanup, Principal Matt Seely said in a text message to parents Friday. Those students were supervised by their teachers in the gym. There is fire damage in the restroom and water damage in the hallway and in a classroom directly across the hall from the bathroom. When the water is dried, maintenance will determine what repairs need to be made, Critchfield said.
Apartment Building, Residential Hampton, VA – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in extinguishing apartment fire; No injuries May 18, 2017 viking210 Red Cross is assisting a woman and seven children after a fire broke out at their Hampton apartment on Wednesday morning. Hampton Fire and Rescue says firefighters were called to the 400 block of Jonquil Lane at about 11:40 a.m. Arriving units found a second floor apartment was filled with heavy smoke, and an activation of an overhead sprinkler system. Most of the fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system, while firefighters extinguished the rest. The fire was contained to the laundry closet area, but there was significant water and smoke damage to the apartment,. along with heavy water damage to apartments below it. Crews did rescue a small dog from the fire. No one was injured.
