Apartment Building, Residential Laurel, MD – Apartment fire early Easter morning controlled by sprinkler system April 6, 2015 viking210 Howard County firefighters responded to the blaze just before 1 a.m. Easter morning in the 9000 block of Thames Meade Road. Crews found a small mattress fire that was controlled by the building’s sprinkler system. A fire was called to the scene to determine a cause and one person was evaluated by paramedics. Two apartments were deemed “unoccupiable,” and fire officials say that number might grow as investigators evaluate other apartments in the building for damage. The American Red Cross is helping residents with any short term help they may need.
Other - Retail, Retail Decatur, IL – Sprinkler system helps prevent spread of small business fire; Neighboring businesses spared April 6, 2015 viking210 Kemper Willcut II expected today to be a busy day filling last-minute Easter orders. Instead, it will be spent cleaning up from an overnight fire that will keep the Del’s Popcorn Shop, 142 N. Merchant St., closed for an undetermined amount of time. The fire, which was contained to the rear of the building, was reported shortly after midnight. Decatur Fire Department personnel arrived to find a dumpster behind the business on fire and the flames climbing the wall toward the second floor. Battalion Chief Todd McKenzie said it appears the fire breached the building where the electricity enters the structure. Sprinklers were able to prevent the spread of the fire to the front of the building, but the entry point provided a pathway to the second floor. The fire was contained to the one building, with neighboring businesses suffering smoke damage. Sloan’s Calzones planned to be open for lunch today after doing some minor cleanup. TapRoot Restaurant will be open tonight, with some limitations. John Redden, owner of TapRoot, said the bar section of the restaurant would be open tonight, with the regular menu available. As employees helped to clean up and rid the business of the lingering smell of smoke, Redden hoped to have the entire restaurant opened by Saturday. “Everybody got lucky with this,” he said. For Marina Loehr, the already scheduled off-day became a clean-up day. Scheduled to be closed in observance of Good Friday. Loehr spent Friday morning lighting candles in her store and opening the doors to get the smell of smoke out of the business. After a look-around the store, she was optimistic there was no damage to any of the structure or the collection of dresses hanging up throughout he store. Many store owners echoed the sentiment of McKenzie as they assessed the damage. “It definitely could have been much worse,” McKenzie said. McKenzie said 30 firefighters and eight trucks were on the scene and off-duty personnel were called in to cover the city in the event of another fire elsewhere. They cleared the scene at 4:32 a.m.
Office Building, Other Business Covington, KY – Sprinklers help save Jackson Hewitt building, according to Fire Chief April 4, 2015 viking210 Covington Fire Department investigated the cause of a blaze that was reported at about 9 p.m. Thursday. Covington Fire Chief Dan Mathew said members of his department were working with Covington Police detectives in an effort to determine how the fire started. He said there was more smoke than fire and that the sprinkler system saved the building. The fire started in the Jackson Hewitt office, which is in the same building with Sims, according to Matt Day, who manages the store, which has been owned since 2011 by Eagle Financial Services. Day said the sprinkler system kicked on in the Jackson Hewitt building and that water from the sprinklers seeped into the basement showroom of Sims. He said he did not think there was any fire damage inside of Sims, which occupies three floors of the building.
Apartment Building, Residential Milpitas, CA – Sprinklers help contain overnight apartment fire; No injuries April 4, 2015 viking210 About 12:32 a.m., fire crews responded to the structure fire at 440 Dixon Landing Road in a third floor apartment, Milpitas Fire Department spokesman Sean Simonson said. By 12:47 a.m., crews had extinguished the small cooking fire, he said. Additional firefighters helped evacuate nearby apartments and kept the fire from spreading. Three nearby apartments in the three-story “A” building suffered water damage as a result of the activation of the automatic fire sprinkler system. No injuries to residents or fire crews were reported.
Government/Military, Other-Government/Military Santa Ana, CA – Fire at John Wayne Airport contained by sprinkler system April 3, 2015 viking210 A small fire caused some damage inside John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana early today. The fire was reported around 1:30 a.m. near Gate 7 of Terminal A at the airport, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. The fire was contained by an overhead sprinkler and extinguished by about 20 firefighters, Concialdi said. No injuries were reported and no flights were affected, he said.
Primary / Secondary School, School / University Midlothian, VA – Fire in storage closet at high school extinguished by sprinkler April 3, 2015 viking210 Fire broke out Wednesday night at Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, but Chesterfield authorities said the school’s sprinkler system was able to put it out. According to authorities at the scene, a pallet inside a storage closet caught fire, but a sprinkler in the closet was able to put out the fire. Chesterfield Fire crews reported to the scene at the new high school at 1300 Kelly Green Lane due to a report of a small fire. The cause is under investigation, but the school day will go on as planned on Thursday.
Apartment Building, Restaurant San Antonio, TX – Restaurant fire in mixed-use residential building suppressed by sprinkler system March 31, 2015 viking210 San Antonio fire officials responded to the fire just after 2 a.m. at the Saltgrass Steakhouse on River Street near E. Crockett and N. Presa streets. The restaurant’s sprinkler system kept the fire contained and damage was limited to the kitchen. Firefighters said the flames started in the river level kitchen at the restaurant and appeared to be electrical in nature. About 25 residents from about 15 apartments above the restaurant were evacuated due to smoke, but later allowed to go back inside. No injuries were reported.
Apartment Building, Residential Schenectady, NY – Sprinklers activate; help contain overnight apartment fire March 30, 2015 viking210 The fire, which broke out around 1 a.m. Saturday at 799 Albany St., left the 48-unit apartment building temporarily closed to about 25 tenants, according to the Red Cross. Deputy Fire Chief Michael O’Clair said the hallway sprinkler system kicked on. The fire damage was limited and confined to one apartment building. Residents were able to enter the building Saturday afternoon to retrieve some belongings, but the building is not expected to be habitable until Tuesday. The cause of the fire had not been determined later Saturday.
Apartment Building, Residential Erie, PA – Overnight apartment fire controlled by sprinkler system March 28, 2015 viking210 A fire at an Erie aparment building was reported at 11:20 PM at 343 East 6th Street. When fire crews arrived on the scene, they found that the sprinkler system was activated, keeping the fire from getting worse. The fire broke out near the foyer of the apartment building, and was quickly extinguished. No injuries were reported, and a fire inspector was called to investigate.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Fairborn, OH – Suspicious overnight fire at senior apartment complex put out by sprinkler system March 27, 2015 viking210 … The second fire call came in at 1:56 a.m. as a piece of furniture on fire by the complex elevators. The fire department received further updates that there was heavy smoke and the sprinkler system had been activated. “Someone had tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher but it was actually the sprinkler that put the fire out for us,” (Fairborn Operations Chief Dave) Reichert said. Residents were evacuated again due to the amount of smoke. In order to get the occupants out of the weather, fire crews cleared and opened the facility gymnasium. “This one more significant than the other,” said Reichert. “Pretty much everything used to furnish a home today is made of a petroleum product that gives off a massive amount of smoke, with a lot of energy and a lot of fuel. Our crews did an excellent job of, number one, taking care of the occupants, making sure they were safe while we continued to do our work getting the remaining smoke out of the building.” The exact causes of the two fires are still under investigation. Due to the suspicious nature of the fires, the State Fire Marshal was called in to investigate. “It’s definitely odd to have two fires, a couple hours apart, in two different locations in the same building,” Reichert said. No injuries were reported during either incident.
