Tag Archives: Night (9pm-5am)

Dry Cleaner, Retail

Nashua, NH – Fire caused by spontaneous combustion held in check by sprinkler system

An early morning fire inside an Industrial Park Drive building was caused by spontaneous combustion of oily rags, according to fire officials. The single-alarm blaze, reported just after 1 a.m. Thursday, happened inside UniFirst Corp., 8 Industrial Park Drive, which is a uniform, maintenance and cleaning supply company.

Firefighters responding to a master fire box alarm, arrived to hear alarms sounding and to find a smoke-filled building and sprinklers operating. The fire was located in three bins filled with tightly packed oily rags. The blaze was held in check by the sprinklers, although firefighters stretched one hose to completely extinguish the fire.  Pressure fans were brought in to air out the building.

Other - Retail, Retail

Woods Cross, UT – Sprinklers limit damage in overnight fire at retail store

Officials said a fire at a local business could have been much worse if sprinklers weren’t in place. The South Davis Metro Fire Department said a “water flow alarm” alerted them to the flames at about 11 p.m. When crews got to the “Candle Warmers Etc.” building near 19th W. and 24th S., they found the sprinklers were already putting out the fire.

“The sprinklers obviously put the fire out and they do a great job of that and that’s why buildings like these are required to have sprinklers,” Fire Chief Dave Powers said. “So most of the damage now is just the water damage caused by the sprinklers going off and a little bit of the burn from the fire.” Officials said it appears the fire was an accident; investigators are working to determine the cause.

Other / Not Specified

Leavenworth, KS – Fire at community center is fully extinguished by sprinkler system

Investigators are trying to determine what caused a small fire Monday night at the Riverfront Community Center, a Leavenworth Fire Department official said. The fire was reported at 10:31 p.m. Monday at the community center, 123 S. Esplanade St.

Assistant Fire Chief Mark Nietzke said the fire was contained to a storage room on the main floor of the community center. Nietzke said the fire was extinguished by water from a sprinkler system. The fire was already out when Leavenworth firefighters arrived on scene.

“The fire was contained to a pretty small area,” Nietzke said. Nietzke said fire investigators are in the process of eliminating other possible causes to determine what led to Monday night’s fire. “It’s taking us a little while to get through everything,” he said. The Riverfront Community Center is owned by the city of Leavenworth. City spokeswoman Melissa Bower said employees will be doing cleanup work this week, but the fire will not result in the cancellation of any events at the Riverfront Community Center.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Des Moines, IA – Single sprinkler extinguishes overnight fire at East High School

Firefighters responding to East High School in Des Moines found a single fire sprinkler had extinguished a fire inside the school. Crews were called to 815 East 13th Street just before midnight on Monday. They found a pressure washer consumed by fire, but the fire did not spread. Crews said the fire sprinkler was set off when temperatures of about 155 degrees were reached. No injuries were reported. Damage is believed to be limited to around $1,000.

Other - Retail, Retail

Ventura, CA – Sprinklers help contain arson fire at commercial retail complex

Two structure fires were knocked down in Ventura Tuesday morning, officials said. The first fire, which was determined to be arson, was reported at 2:28 a.m. in the 9200 block of Telephone Road.

The facade of a commercial retail complex on Telephone Road was purposely set on fire in the first incident, officials said. Responding crews discovered an exterior commercial sign in flames that had lapped onto the adjacent exterior wall of the building, officials said. The blaze triggered a fire sprinkler that held the fire in check.

Apartment Building, Residential

Frederick, MD – Sprinklers contain Memorial Day apartment fire; No injuries reported

Crews arrived at the Mountain Glen Apartments in the 5700 block of Sugar Maple Court at 10:35 p.m. Monday to find smoke coming from the second floor of a three-story, garden-style apartment building, said Capt. Kevin Fox, a spokesman for the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services. The apartment’s sprinkler system helped contain the fire while firefighters were setting up.

“It was held to the stove and cabinet area of the kitchen and prevented from spreading into the rest of the building,” Fox said. “It took about 30 firefighters 10 minutes to bring it under control.”

The 12-unit building was evacuated during the firefighters’ response, but no one was displaced by the blaze and no injuries were reported, either to firefighters or residents, Fox said. Firefighters quickly determined that unattended cooking sparked the fire.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Columbia, MO – Single sprinkler activates to control fire in apartments for seniors and disabled

Officials said unattended cooking was the cause of a Thursday fire in an apartment at Paquin Tower, 1201 Paquin St., according to a Columbia Fire Department news release. A fire department crew was dispatched at 9:39 p.m. to the apartment building, where water was spotted coming from under an apartment door.

According to the news release, one sprinkler head brought the fire under control and 84 percent of residential fires are contained by one sprinkler head. The crew remained on the scene to clean up the water in the apartment and in the hallway.

 

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Winnipeg, BC, Canada – Nightclub fire controlled with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire at a downtown bar shut down band rehearsals Thursday night. Multiple crews and a ladder truck were in front of the Main Street bar around 10 p.m. The popular spot was not hosting a bar night, but there were bands practicing in the upstairs recording spaces when the fire broke out. Gerry Suzuki was upstairs when he smelled smoke.

“We thought it was an amp or something on fire so we investigated. We went upstairs and we went downstairs and we saw flames on the first floor on Whiskey Dix. It was at least six feet high and looked like six feet wide. It looked like the middle of the floor was on fire.” said Suzuki.

District Chief Ted Humphreys said crews were quick to get the fire under control. “It was a fire that started in the back part of the building here on the main floor. About 90% was knocked down by the sprinkler system,” he said. Humphreys said everyone got out safely. There is no word on what started the fire, or how much damage it caused.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Victoria, BC, Canada – Spontaneous combustion fire in mixed-use building suppressed by sprinkler system

The spontaneous combustion of improperly stored or discarded construction materials is suspected in a fire early today in a commercial space on lower Yates Street, reports the Victoria Fire Department. The fire was suppressed by the room’s sprinkler system, according to the fire department.

The fire will be ruled accidental and the cause stated as undetermined but the spontaneous combustion of stored or discarded materials remains “a probable cause,” said Victoria Fire Lt.-Insp. Brad Sifert.

No one was injured. At 2:14 a.m., Victoria firefighters raced to a fire on the main floor of 524 Yates St., just above Wharf Street. The building, adjacent to Waddington Alley, is commercial on the main floor with condominiums above.

The office space was under renovation, with the new owner scheduled to occupy the space in about a week, according to Battalion Chief Dave Bicknell. The floor was being finished with a highly flammable drying oil and it is likely that the fire was the result of spontaneous combustion from the disposal of these materials, Sifert said.

Fire crews arrived to find smoke in the commercial space. Firefighters traced the blaze to a small smouldering pile of construction materials and waste including discarded window dressing. “I couldn’t find anything but the garbage,” Sifert said.

Sifert interviewed two labourers who had been working on the floor until about 3 p.m. Monday. As part of their normal protocol, the workers said they put the oil-soaked rags in water in pails outside the building. “I can’t rule it out just based on what they’re saying,” Sifert said. “A rag could have been left in there.”

Fire crews used a hose line to completely extinguish the fire, which was contained to a one-metre-square area on the floor.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Madison, WI – Fire in hotel storage closet extinguished with help from sprinkler system

The Edgewater hotel was evacuated Monday night due to a fire discovered in a small storage closet. Nobody was injured in the fire. A sprinkler put out most of the fire in the closet, with the fire totally put out by firefighters.

The fire call came in to the Madison Fire Department at about 8:15 p.m. Firefighters responded within minutes to the hotel at 666 Wisconsin Ave. “Alarms were sounding and people evacuated the building,” the fire department reported.

A bag of rags had been smoldering in the closet, with some cardboard boxes above the bag catching fire. Staff said the bag contained kitchen rags and should not have been in the closet. “Security video showed an employee placing the bag in the room,” the report said. The investigation continues. No damage estimate was given.