Hospital/Care Facility, Other - Hospital/Medical Rochester, MN – Sprinkler system douses fire at Mayo support facility; No injuries reported June 28, 2015 viking210 Rochester Fire Department responded to the Mayo Support Center Thursday morning after a piece of machinery that cleans the floor caught fire. “We showed up and they had a smoke haze in the building. The building was investigated and found that in the maintenance area, a piece of maintenance equipment had malfunctioned during charging and caused a small fire, which initiated the sprinkler system, which almost completely extinguished the fire” said Chuck Solseth, the Rochester Fire Department Acting Battalion Chief. Initially, one fire engine and the battalion chief car responded to the fire alarm; however, two more engines were called in after the discovery of smoke being produced. Crews went in with a carbon dioxide extinguisher and put out what the sprinklers couldn’t. Solseth said this type of fire does not happen very often. “It’s not very common for things to just catch fire while they’re in there charging. It does happen on occasion. But that’s why it’s important that we monitor what’s going on. Pieces of the equipment that you’re charging, if they’re abnormally warm or making any type of odd odors or sounds, may be reason to unplug it and investigate it further,” said Solseth. Solseth added that when plastic pieces catch fire, like that of the floor cleaning machinery, it can prove to be detrimental. “The plastics create/release chemicals. The smoke itself will have carbon monoxide in it because of the products of combustion. We ventilated the structure out, used our respiratory equipment, so that we could access the area, ventilated it out, and then verified it with air monitors that there was no more hazard for us,” said Solseth. Employees of the Mayo Support Center were evacuated until around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Poplar Bluff, MO – Sprinkler system quickly puts out fire at Briggs and Stratton facility June 20, 2015 viking210 A fire broke out at Briggs and Stratton in Poplar Bluff Thursday morning around 10:30 a.m. Some welding sparked dust to catch fire near a paint oven, according to the Poplar Bluff Fire Department. The sprinkler system activated and the fire was quickly put out. Employees were evacuated. Firefighters worked to ventilate the area before letting employees back in to the facility. No one was injured.
Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Dubuque, IA – Fire in paint booth at manufacturing facility controlled with help from sprinkler system June 19, 2015 viking210 Firefighters say a fire inside a paint booth at a Dubuque warehouse Tuesday was contained fairly quickly but still caused significant damage. Dubuque Fire Chief Rick Steines said firefighters received a report at 9:49 a.m. Tuesday at a warehouse at 1111 Purina Drive. He said the blaze originated in a paint booth used by manufacturing company Andersen Eagle and was contained to the machinery. Steines also said there were two 50-gallon barrels of acetone in the booth that started to burn. No injuries have been reported. Steines said the booth’s sprinkler system helped contain the fire and firefighters were able to run a hose into the booth to extinguish the blaze. He said it was contained within about 15 minutes but crews stayed on scene to ensure the fire was out and to assess damage and help get the sprinkler system back on line. Steines said the paint booth’s safety functions worked properly and the damage was contained to the booth. “There’s no damage estimate yet, but there was pretty significant damage to the paint booth and some water damage from the sprinklers.,” Steines said. He said the fire was paged out at a two-alarm level at first. But since it was contained quickly, the additional crews were back in service a short time later.
Apartment Building, Residential Centreville, VA – Sprinklers extinguish unattended cooking fire in four-story apartment building June 16, 2015 viking210 A Saturday morning fire at a Centreville apartment injured one person and left nine other people without a home, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. Fire and rescue units responded at about 10 a.m. to the blaze at 5852 Post Corners Trail, in a complex behind the Newgate shopping center. They found that a sprinkler system had extinguished the fire before they arrived, but light smoke filled the four-story apartment. One occupant was transported to the Washington Hospital Burn Center by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries, the fire department said. Damage to the apartment is estimated at $23,000. Smoke alarms alerted the apartment’s 10 occupants to the fire, which was caused by unattended food left on a kitchen stove, the fire department said. The Red Cross is helping the occupants.
Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing Albany, GA – Sprinklers control fire at bedding manufacturer; Fire started in stored bales of cardboard June 15, 2015 viking210 Firefighters responded to the call of a structure around 9:15 Monday morning at Jamison Bedding Manufacturing building. Battalion Chief Keith Ambrose says the first arriving unit noticed smoke coming from vents in the building. Ambrose says stored bales of cardboard were on fire and that crews were able to put the fire out within five minutes. “The sprinkler system activated, which saved us a lot of work and kept the fire in check until we could get here and extinguish it,” said Ambrose. No injuries were reported. Foul play is not suspected but the cause of fire is under investigation.
Apartment Building, Residential Fallbrook, CA – Apartment fire contained to room of origin by sprinkler system June 15, 2015 viking210 The fire broke out at 8:45 a.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Alturas Road. Firefighters say a sprinkler in the ceiling put out the fire, and contained it to one room in the home. No injuries were reported. The apartment had extensive water damage, and the unit above had some smoke damage. No word yet on what caused the fire.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Las Vegas, NV – Automatic sprinkler douses bathroom fire at senior apartment building June 10, 2015 viking210 Las Vegas firefighters aided by Clark County firefighters were called to a bathroom fire at the Destinations at Oakey Senior Apartments, 3900 W. Oakey Boulevard at 8:34 Tuesday morning. Firefighters found light smoke coming from one apartment in the two story wood frame/stucco apartment building. The fire was out when firefighters found it. The fire was extinguished by an automatic fire sprinkler in the bathroom. Fire investigators believe the fire started in the bathroom fan. The plastic front piece on the fan melted and dripped onto a towel that was on a towel bar mounted on the wall. That fire provided the heat necessary to activate the fire sprinkler which quickly put out the fire. Damage was confined to the wall and the area around the fan. Damage was estimated at $2500. The occupant told fire investigators he was lying on the couch in the living room watching TV. He smelled something burning. When he checked the bathroom, he saw the towel burning. Just as he was leaving, the fire sprinkler activated as well as the smoke alarm. The man escaped without injury. The entire apartment building was evacuated during the incident. The fire sprinkler activated and kept the fire to a minimum until firefighters arrived on scene and made sure the fire was completely out. Damage was kept to a minimum. The fire caused approximately $2,500 in damages.
Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Huntingburg, IN – Sprinklers help limit damage in fire at sawdust storage building June 9, 2015 viking210 The Huntingburg Volunteer Fire Department was called Saturday morning to the report of a fire in OFS Plant No. 18’s sawdust storage facility. Department spokesman John C. Smith said, given a similar incident eight years ago, he braced for the worst and quickly called for manpower assistance from the Holland Volunteer Fire Department. On July 6, 2007, a similar fire in the then-60-by-120 sawdust storage building behind the plant kept firefighters busy for 14 hours, Smith said. But, he added, that building has been replaced by a new one with a sprinkler system. And it was that sprinkler system that curtailed damage after Saturday’s 8:58 a.m. call by activating and extinguishing the main body of the fire, Smith said. The fire’s cause was attributed to a mechanical failure in an auger system used to move sawdust into the building, according to Smith. Large front-end loaders supplied by Brewer Farms Inc., Huntingburg, were used to take sawdust out of the building so firefighters could access the area where the fire started. Smith said there was no appreciable damage to the building. Huntingburg’s department was on the scene with four trucks and 13 firefighters for five hours. Holland’s department responded with 10 firefighters. While four worked alongside Huntingburg firefighters for the duration, Smith said, others were released throughout the morning as conditions allowed. OFS personnel assisted with sawdust removal and a Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services ambulance was on standby at the scene. Members of the Huntingburg Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary were on hand to provide food and drinks for those extinguishing the smoldering sawdust.
Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Wooster, OH – Welding machine fire at manufacturer extinguished with help from sprinkler system June 8, 2015 viking210 Responding to a smoke call at LuK Inc., Wooster City Firefighters arrived at the business Sunday morning to find a fire inside a welding machine. Firefighters were called to the business, located at 3401 Old Airport Road, at 8:44 a.m. They arrived within minutes and remained on scene for more than an hour containing the fire, however much of the work of extinguishing the fire was accomplished through an internal sprinkler system, said Lt. Joe Linz. Firefighters worked with LuK maintenance workers, who disassembled the machine, and attacked the fire, using a combination of fire extinguishers, water and Chimfex flares, which emit carbon dioxide, according to Capt. Tom Graf. While there were employees working at the business at the time, the fire was contained to the machine, and there was no substantial interruption to operations, said Graf, noting there were no injuries. Loss is estimated at $1,000, he said, noting the fire is believed to have been the result of normal procedures.
Apartment Building, Residential Suffolk, VA – Apartment fire contained to kitchen by sprinkler system June 2, 2015 viking210 Firefighters responded to a residential fire in downtown Suffolk around 11 a.m. Sunday morning in the 200 block of East Washington Street. When crews arrived, they found that the fire had been suppressed by a sprinkler system in the kitchen of the second floor apartment. The fire was contained to the kitchen and there was no extension of fire into other apartment units or into the retail businesses on the street level. There were no injuries. The kitchen fire was ruled accidental.
