Investigators are trying to figure out what caused an explosion at a Chesterfield hotel early Tuesday morning. The call came in around 4:30 a.m. for a fire alarm at the InTown Suites in the 11500-block of Green Spring Road, between Koger Center Blvd and Robious Road. Chesterfield County Fire and EMS tell us they found signs of an explosion, and some residents report the building shook.
Most people were asleep when it happened, but not Brendon Chandler. “Just a big explosion and then the window just ended up in the parking lot,” remembers Chandler. He was smoking a cigarette when all of a sudden in the room above his, “The window just shot right out!”
And, that’s when guests say chaos erupted. “I just heard the fire alarm go off and I heard a whole bunch of people running outside. The next thing you know, I’m waking up and just everybody’s going outside,” says resident David Rivenbark.
Chesterfield Fire says the explosion happened in a room on the third floor. The blown-out window and melted plastic from the fire was evident from the outside. That fire activated the room’s sprinkler system. Some second floor rooms sustained water damage from those sprinklers.
A Hazmat team was brought in and tests found no hazardous materials in the room, but investigators are calling the situation “suspicious” and say the room’s occupant was no where to be found. One guest told NBC12, she heard footsteps before the fire alarm went off.
“[Someone was] hightailing it down the hall. We’re right in front of the elevator near the stairwell, and I heard the stairwell door fly open and hit the wall,” she says. Now police want to talk to that person.
No one was injured by the explosion, but two hotel guests were later taken to the hospital for unrelated injuries. Police and the Fire Marshal’s Office continue to investigate.
A southwest Redmond assisted living facility was hit by a smoky fire early Tuesday that prompted evacuation of over a dozen residents – but the situation could have been far worse, if not for the building’s fire alarm and sprinkler systems, officials said.
Redmond Fire and Rescue was called out around 12:35 a.m. to a reported structure fire at The Heights Assisted Living, at 3000 SW 32nd Street, said Fire Marshal Traci Cooper. Crews arrived to find the first floor of the facility’s southern wing filled with smoke.
The building is equipped with a fire alarm system that provided early detection and warning of the blaze, the fire marshal said. A fire sprinkler system activated, containing the fire to a mechanical room.
Firefighters quickly finished putting out the blaze while staff and Redmond police officers evacuated the first and second floors of the south wing.
Initially, 14 residents were evacuated to a neighboring nursing home, Cooper said. Residents from the second floor were allowed to return, while the seven from the first floor were to remain at the nursing home until repairs are made and resulting hazards are evaluated, Cooper said.
There were no reported injuries, she said, thanks to the alarm and sprinkler systems and the quick response from staff and first responders. A damage estimate was being compiled.
The fire was found to have been caused by storage of combustible items too close to a natural gas-fired water heater, the fire marshal said, urging everyone to make sure you keep three feet of clearance around heat sources and combustible items.
Three engines, a medic and 10 career firefighters were involved in the incident, and Oregon State Police also provided mutual-aid assistance, Cooper said.
A criminal investigation is under way into a late-night fire at a Shelton company that specializes in corrugated cardboard packaging. An initial investigation “determined [the fire] was incendiary in nature, which means arson,” said Shelton Fire Marshal James Tortora.
The arson determination was made with the help of Shelton police detectives, the city Fire Marshal’s Office, the State Police, and the state Fire Marshal’s Office, including the use of a state-provided K-9 dog with specialized training.
Shelton Police Det. Christopher Nugent confirmed the fire was being looked into but declined to offer any details about the police investigation or case at this time. “The fire is currently under investigation,” Nugent said.
The fire occurred in an office at Honey Cell manufacturing facility at Bridgeport Avenue and Long Hill Cross Road. The plant’s address is 600 Bridgeport Ave., but it is actually accessed from Long Hill Cross Road.
Tortora said the fire call came in at about 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10. Upon arrival, firefighters found a fire in an office at the factory, “but the sprinkler system had it under control and kept it contained to the office,” he said.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the remaining fire soon after their arrival, Tortora said. “First arriving units reported light smoke showing from the building,” according to an Echo Hose Fire posting. “A fire was found in one of the offices with the sprinkler system in operation.
Based on the company website, Honey Cell is a part of Valley Container. Different divisions of the parent company specialize in different kinds of packaging. Valley Container has a factory and its headquarters in Bridgeport, as well as facilities in Massachusetts and Ohio.
A flash fire caused when a resident tried to extinguish burning candle wax was controlled when the building’s automatic sprinkler system turned on, fire officials said Monday.
Two apartments at Greenview Way in The Villages at Bey Lea apartment complex were left uninhabitable due to damage from the fire Sunday evening, said James Mercready, director of the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention. One person suffered minor injuries, he said.
Firefighters from the Pleasant Plains Fire Company responded to the call at 11:20 p.m. and upon arrival found the fire — in the bathroom of one apartment — had been extinguished by a single fire sprinkler head that activated, Mercready said.
Toms River Fire Inspector Dominick Roselli determined the fire was accidental. Candle wax caught fire on the kitchen stove, and when the resident put it in the bathroom’s shower to put it out, it created a flash fire, Mercready said.
The resident suffered minor injuries but refused medical attention, he said.
Firefighters checked for extension of the fire and performed ventilation, as well as shutting off electric and gas service to the two units because of the damage, he said.
Mercready said it is the second fire extinguished by the automatic sprinkler system at the complex and fifth sprinker-controlled fire in the township since October.
“In each case, one fire sprinkler head activated and controlled and suppressed the fire,” he said. “A properly designed, installed and maintained fire sprinkler system is an essential component in fire and life safety as well as property protection.”
“The rate of effectiveness has been very good during the more than 100 years they have been in use in the United States,” Mercready said.
Due to the extent of the damage, Roselli ruled two apartments uninhabitable, but six others in the building were able to be reoccupied, Mercready said.
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
