Tag Archives: Nebraska

Apartment Building, Residential

Lincoln, NE – Kitchen fire in downtown loft apartments controlled with help from sprinklers; No injuries

At least one person was displaced Thursday after a small fire at a building on 8th and Q in downtown Lincoln. According to Lincoln Fire & Rescue, the fire started in the kitchen of a loft on the third floor of Arena Lofts.

“In the initial phases we were sent here on a regular box alarm with one engine one truck,” said Capt. Lloyd Mueller, acting Batallion Chief. “We identified that they did have smoke conditions stating that there was a fire in one of the apartments we’ve upgraded the alarms to a second alarm due to the occupancy and the people that are living up above.”

LFR found it was a small fire that started in the kitchen. It is still under investigation whether it was the stove top or a kitchen appliance. “Right now we have a lot of water damage just through the sprinkler system activation,” said Mueller. “So the fire was great enough it did…signal the sprinklers to activate.”

According to LFR, there was nobody in the apartment where the fire started. “A lot of the residents are not around so we’re still trying to get a hold of them and let them know,” said Mueller. Mueller said there was one resident who was displaced. “This is a brand new apartment building so they’re being renovated,” he said.

According to one of the employees with the clean up crew, water damage affected about six apartments and a cigar shop below. Most of the water damage was from the sprinklers.

“We put a very small amount of water on the fire itself due to the sprinklers activation,” said Mueller, “…the water damage is just shutting down the system…getting the water to drain out of the pipes and getting it to not go into the building but outside the building.”

Mueller said the Red Cross and the Chaplain were called out to help those who were displaced.

 

There was no damage to the Twin Peaks restaurant below.

 

Mueller said they had a few animals they protected and put in a safe room in the apartments.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Omaha, NE – Sprinkler system puts out overnight fire that started in school art room kiln

No one was injured when a kiln in an art room at Beadle Middle School in southwest Omaha sparked a fire overnight. Authorities said the fire activated the school’s fire alarm and sprinkler system. Officials say the sprinklers put out the fire before firefighters arrived. The fire was confined to the art room and no students were in the school at the time.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Lincoln, NE – Fire at Holiday Inn Express held in check by sprinkler system

Fire crews responded to a fire at the Holiday Inn Express near 12th and W. Commerce Way just before 4 a.m. Firefighters say the fire started in a room on the second floor. The fire was contained to that room thanks to hotel sprinklers.

“We did have some concerns initially because of the concentration of smoke that was reported to us that we may have something larger then it turned out to be but thankfully because of the sprinkler system in this structure it did assist us in holding the fire in check,” says Battalion Chief Leo Benes. “Folks are concerned about getting to their plane flights out of this city so we’re trying to assist them to get their personal belongings and getting their business done here at the hotel.”

Heavy smoke was reported throughout the building which had to be evacuated. The occupant of the room was taken to the hospital but the extent of their injuries is unknown.

Apartment Building, Residential

Fremont, NE – Overnight fire in high-rise apartment building contained by sprinkler system

The automatic sprinkler system kept an early morning fire at Stanton Tower from becoming worse. Fremont Fire Department crews were called to the eighth floor of Stanton Tower at 3:56 a.m. Friday. “The sprinkler system is priceless,” Capt. Pat Tawney said. Tawney said it appears the resident had left a placed a piece of wood on top of the stove and then a microwave on top of that. So far, it’s undetermined how the fire started.

Smoke was contained to the eighth floor of the high-rise apartment building. Typically, Tawney said, the department recommends residents at either Gifford Tower or Stanton Tower remain in their apartments and place a towel at the bottom of the door when there is a fire in another unit until firefighters ask them to evacuate. Sprinklers and the concrete construction of the buildings help keep fires from spreading.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Holdrege, NE – Electrical fire at hospital suppressed by sprinkler system

Phelps Memorial Health Center rang in the New Year with fire alarms Thursday night, when a malfunctioning electrical panel caused a small fire in the lower level of the hospital.  Though the sprinkler system and fire alarms were set off, patient care was not interrupted by the fire, and no one was evacuated, Phelps Memorial Director of Public Relations Keri Berry said.

At 9:31 p.m., the Holdrege Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire call at the hospital because of smoke in a maintenance room at the hospital. Fifteen firefighters responded to the call and were on scene for about 30 minutes, Fire Chief Jim Wagner said.

“No patients were affected by the fire. No one was moved from their rooms,” she said. “Everyone worked really well to make the process smooth.”  The hospital is investigating the fire and did not have a damage estimate available.  No injuries were reported.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Sprinkler system handles fire at Hormel Foods (Fremont, NE)

A fire in the rendering section at Hormel Foods Corp. did minimal damage Thursday afternoon.
The Fremont Fire Department was called at about 3:45 p.m., and was on the scene for less than an hour. Lt. Doug Backens said some rendering grease caught fire, but the plant’s sprinkler system kept the fire in check. Firefighters encountered mostly smoke and steam by the time they arrived, he said.
Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Sprinklers control fire at college residence hall (Beatrice, NE)

***Blog Editor’s Note – Please let us know what you think of the coverage by the Fremont Tribune, who focused on water damage rather than the lives and property saved by the automatic fire sprinkler system ***
Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fire sprinklers credited with saving manufacturing plant (Lincoln, NE)

A plastics manufacturing plant caught fire when an oven in the building lit up some surrounding plastic. The fire then set off the fire sprinkler system, which contained the fire until firefighters arrived and put out the rest of the flames. Fire crews reported that the manufacturing plant sustained $10,000 worth of damage, but Fire Investigator Chuck Schweitzer reported that the damage could have been much worse if the fire sprinklers had not been present.

“Fire sprinkler systems are there for a reason. It not only saves property, it can save lives,” Schweitzer said.

Government/Military, Prison / Jail

Sprinkler system extinguishes prison wood shop fire (Lincoln, NE)

A sprinkler system doused a fire at a wood shop on the Nebraska State Penitentiary campus early Saturday, a fire official said. The flames erupted inside the building at Nebraska 2 and Pioneers Boulevard just after 2 a.m., setting a number of furniture items ablaze. Steve Dolezal, acting battalion chief for Lincoln Fire and Rescue, said the fire was a minor event and some crews were back in service soon after making their way to the shop.