Tag Archives: New Hampshire

Other - Storage / Warehouse, Storage / Warehouse

Nashua, NH – Truck fire inside warehouse held in check by sprinkler system

Firefighters quickly extinguished a truck fire Monday night inside a three-story warehouse on Bridge Street, which houses a truck repair shop and kitchen cabinet outlet. The building’s sprinkler system kept the fire in check.

Fire crews arrived just after 10:30 PM to find a fire in the engine compartment of a plow truck parked in the rear garage area. Firefighters forced their way through double overhead doors to put out the fire. Some of the firefighting operations were delayed as crews encountered broken hydrants due to plow operations and a buried water shut off, fire officials said.

Residential, Single Family Home

Derry, NH – Sprinkler system helps 14-year-old girl escape intense garage fire

Fire officials say a residential sprinkler system helped knock down an intense garage fire at 3 Alder Court on Monday, and also helped save a 14-year-old girl who was home at the time.The girl was in the basement and unaware of the fire in the attached garage until she noticed water running from the sprinkler system and saw smoke filling the house. After seeing the garage was on fire, she was able to escape, said Derry fire Lt. Jack Webb.The forward progress of the fire in the garage was stopped until firefighters could arrive and extinguish the blaze. “That sprinkler system stopped the fire,” Webb said, adding “it allowed the little girl to get out of the house.”Firefighters were able rescue a small dog that was uninjured, he said. The first call came into the dispatch center at 3:36 p.m. and crews were on the scene at 3:44 p.m., Webb said.When they arrived, the garage was fully involved, with fire above the roof line.Firefighters from four stations responded to the blaze that went to two alarms, Webb said. Crews had to contend with bitter cold and icy conditions. There were also five other calls that occurred in town during the fire, including a major sprinkler system burst at Shaw’s Supermarket.The crews poured a lot of water onto the garage of the two-story Colonial-style house and the fire was declared under control at about 5 p.m., Webb saidCrews remained on the scene until 7:23 p.m. for overhaul and to assist the family members recover their belongings. There was some extension of the fire into the attic and roof of farmer’s porch. The living area of the house received smoke and water damage; it will be uninhabitable until professionally cleaned, Webb said. The family was renting and will stay with relatives temporarily, he said. The garage and its contents are considered a complete loss. Fire loss, including contents of the garage, is estimated at $150,000. A corvette was lost in the blaze, Webb added.The cause of the fire isn’t suspicious and appears to be accidental, Webb said. –

Government Office, Government/Military

Concord, NH – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at Merrimack County Courthouse

A sprinkler system helped put out a fire and save county property at the Merrimack County Superior Courthouse in Concord Sunday. The fire is believed to have started in a vending machine on the first floor of the building. A preliminary investigation by the Concord Fire Department, the state fire marshal’s office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined the fire to have been accidental, according to a press release issued yesterday by the state fire marshal’s office.

The Concord Fire Department was called to 163 N. Main St. at 10:13 a.m. after receiving an alert from an automatic fire alarm. Firefighters arrived on scene at 10:18 a.m. to find smoke in the building and an active sprinkler in a room of vending machines. The building was closed and secure at the time of the fire. Fire Marshal J. William Degnan said the sprinkler system “prevented a much larger fire and loss of county property, as well as reduced the danger to firefighters.”

The fire came two days after another one in a similarly unattended public building, in that case owned by the town of Henniker. The Henniker Highway Department garage, which wasn’t outfitted with a sprinkler system, and several town vehicles were destroyed in that fire, with damage estimated to be about $1 million.

Residential, Townhouse / Condominium

Condominium fire squelched thanks to fire sprinklers (Hampton, NH)

A four-story condominium caught fire on Monday morning on one of the unit’s enclosed porches. Investigators believe that the fire began around or above an exterior light on the underside of a second story porch. The heat from the fire activated the condominium’s fire sprinkler system, which Hampton Fire Chief reported helped to contain the fire to the porch area. No injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Single sprinkler extinguishes fire at three-story apartment building (Rochester, NH)

A single sprinkler put out a fire on Punch Brook Way Thursday afternoon, avoiding a potential three-story building fire. Firefighters were called to the scene of an apartment building just before 4 p.m. for the report of a kitchen fire after a resident cooking on the third floor unintentionally started the fire. According to officials, the fire was out before they arrived due to the activation of a single sprinkler head. “The sprinkler system did its job, not only saving the building, but also the residents,” said Deputy Fire Chief Peter Cutrer.

Residential, Single Family Home

Home fire put out by residential sprinkler system (Portsmouth, NH)

A Thanksgiving Eve fire at an Osprey Drive home was sparked by a lamp and displaced the residents, but sprinklers “saved the house,” said Deputy Fire Chief Carl Roediger. Firefighters were called to the home at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, when one of the residents said he just returned home and found his couch on fire, Roediger said. The fire had been “pretty much put out” by the residential sprinkler system and firefighters removed the smouldering couch from the home, according to the deputy chief.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Fire put out by sprinkler system at warehouse (Hanover, NH)

A single fire sprinkler extinguished the fire that occurred in a warehouse the morning of September 4. Fire crews came to the scene after a fire alarm notification came through a private alarm company. The fire was limited to a diesel fire pump and its electronic controls. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and there were no injuries reported.

College/University (on campus), School / University

Sprinkler system extinguishes on college campus (Durham, NH)

A fire that began in the Physics Department on the University of New Hampshire campus was quickly suppressed by the building’s fire sprinkler system. A member of the faculty had been using isopropyl alcohol to clean an item in the room when a chemical reaction occurred, creating the fire. No other chemicals that were contained in the building caught on fire, and no injuries occurred.