Tag Archives: Night (9pm-5am)

Apartment Building, Residential

Janesville, WI – Sprinkler system extinguished closet fire at apartment

A major fire at a Janesville apartment building is avoided thanks to a working sprinkler system.

The Janesville Fire Department says firefighters were dispatched to a multi-family residence on the 200 block of North Franklin Street just before 9:30 Wednesday night.

Captain John McManus says a basket of clothing started on fire in a closet when the sprinklers kicked in and doused the flames.

McManus said the fire could have caused a lot of destruction had the sprinklers not worked. He estimated the building had about $1,000 in water damage from the sprinkler system.

About 10 to 12 people were displaced. The Red Cross helped the residents find overnight shelter.

The fire remains under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada – Space heater fire contained to single room thanks to fire sprinkler system at senior housing center

A long-term care home in Brentwood Bay was damaged by a fire Monday night.

The Central Sannich Fire Department received the call at 9:30 p.m. for a structure fire. Additional crews from North Saanich and Sidney were called in to assist.

The fire was contained to one room thanks to the sprinkler system but the water did cause damage to the rest of the care home.

“The immediate challenges with this fire were it’s a multi-unit building and with the occupants that are in there are not very mobile. So our priority was to make sure they were safe and out of harm’s way and to also stop the flow of water and clear the building of smoke,” said Chris Vrabel, Central Saanich Fire chief.

Brentwood House provides care for dementia patients and is temporarily closed while the damage is dealt with, displacing 17 patients.

Residents were taken to a nearby facility and family members were contacted. Island Health found temporary homes for those in need. 

The cause of the fire was determined to be a space heater.

There is no word to when the care home will re-open.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Las Vegas, NV – Fire inside Amazon warehouse contained by fire sprinklers

Firefighters in North Las Vegas were called to an Amazon warehouse about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday after a fire started inside the building, Deputy Chief Travis Anderson said.

Anderson said sprinklers did go off and firefighters were working the structure fire. The warehouse is located at 3837 Bay Lake Trail.

One person was taken to a hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported, according to Battalion Chief Gary Stover.

The fire is still under investigation, Stover said.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Woodland Park, CO – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at bank overnight; No injuries reported

An investigation continues into an internal fire that occurred inside the Park State Bank & Trust facility on the early morning hours of Jan. 27.

Authorities still haven’t determined the exact cause of the incident, which didn’t result in any injuries.

On the upside, the bank has returned to normal operations, after undergoing some intense mitigation efforts for several days.

According to Park State bank officials, the fire occurred under a soffit on the east side of the building shortly after 3 a.m. on Jan. 27. The fire damage was mitigated by the bank’s sprinkler system. In an official statement, bank president Tony Perry said, ‘The sprinkler system did such a great job that we are now assessing the damage, root cause, and have begun mitigation efforts.”

The fire, though, did cause extensive damage in parts of the facility.

After being closed on Jan. 27, only the drive-through was operating both Tuesday and Wednesday, as teams were assessing interior damage and air quality was low, according to bank officials. All first-floor flooring has to be removed and will be replaced. As of Thursday, operations resumed for team members with all employees working on the second floor.

Yellow tape was displayed in front of the bank entrance during much of last week to allow experts to assess the damage.

In a statement on the Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce’s Grapevine page, the bank offered thanks to emergency service officials, insurance and damage exerts and    local customers.

“PSBT wishes to thank Chief (Tyler) Lambert and the NE Fire Protection team for responding quickly and preventing the fire from spreading throughout the building. Thanks are also due to both Joy Pickett of The Insurance Center, who quickly had a team out to assess the claim, and Michael Whittemore and his 1-800-Water Damage team which immediately began mitigating damage and preparing to return the building to full service as quickly as possible Thank you also to the city of Woodland Park and the many, many bank customers who offered help. It is a privilege to be a part of this wonderful community.”

The one casualty is the forthcoming Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce After Hours gathering, originally planned at the bank next month.

Due to building repairs, the Chamber After Hours event for Feb. 18 will still be hosted by PSBT, but the event will occur at the Ute Pass Cultural Center. This is the third time the site for the forthcoming February After Hours has been changed.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Sioux Falls, SD – Equipment fire at hospital extinguished by fire sprinkler; No injuries reported

Authorities say a small equipment fire at a Sanford Hospital building in Sioux Falls forced staff to temporarily move some patients to a different part of the building.

The fire broke out around 11 p.m. near the radiology department on the ground floor of the medical center.

According to Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, an equipment maintenance cart started on fire, but it was extinguished by a sprinkler before firefighters arrived.

A Sanford spokesperson said patients were briefly moved from the emergency department and The Birth Place while firefighters evaluated the situation. Once the smoke in the air had been cleared, patients were returned to their rooms.

No one was hurt during the incident.

Sanford said its fire response worked “as designed.” The spokesperson said patients will not experience any disruptions due to the incident.

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

West Lafayette, IN – Fire sprinklers control fifth floor dorm room fire at Purdue University

When Hawkins residents were roused by the blaring fire alarms Jan. 23 at 2:43 a.m., most assumed it was a badly timed drill.

The residents on the east wing of the fifth floor saw the smoke.

A resident’s reverse osmosis water filter had caught fire. Its owner was not in the room at the time, and the sprinklers were able to contain the small fire. No residents were harmed, but the lasting flooding left many of their belongings damaged. The student declined to comment.

Hannah MacLean, a freshman in the College of Science, was one of the other residents on the east wing of the fifth floor, just five or six doors down from room where the fire started.

“I didn’t really take it that seriously (at first),” MacLean said. “I kind of took my time. … Then I open my door, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I see smoke,’ and then I kinda panicked.”

MacLean said most of the residents were out of the building by 2:45 a.m.

By the time the fire truck arrived, the fire had been contained, though there was still smoke present, according to Purdue Fire Chief Kevin Ply.

“(The fire) was completely accidental, and the sprinklers worked just as they were designed to work,” Ply said.

According to MacLean, there was water coming from the door across from the room where the fire started, but Ply explained that only the sprinkler in that room went off because of their design.

“(The sprinkler) reaches a predetermined temperature and then that sprinkler head pops, and so when that happens, water comes out of the sprinkler at roughly 30-35 gallons per minute,” Ply said.

When the fire department arrived, they had to turn off the sprinkler system, which is why there was so much flooding, Ply said.

Purdue spokesperson Tim Doty said via email because of the sprinkler system, some rooms will be offline for the rest of the semester and affected students have been offered temporary housing or new housing assignments within University Residences.

The residents were not allowed back into the building until around 4 a.m., according to MacLean. The fifth-floor residents were told they had to find a different place to stay for the night, but many other Hawkins residents offered to host them.

MacLean stayed with her friend, Maya Radjenovich, a freshman in the College of Health and Human Sciences.

“A lot of girls seemed to be really understanding and open to allowing people to spend the night with them,” Radjenovich said. “It was actually really sweet to see.”

The next night, fifth-floor residents still weren’t able to return to their rooms. Hawkins offered temporary housing to any residents who weren’t able to find a place to stay with another resident and escorted those who wanted to get any belongings from their rooms.

The fifth-floor residents weren’t allowed back into their rooms until Friday at 5 p.m., according to MacLean.

“As you can see, my books are all water-damaged,” she said, brandishing her wrinkled notebooks. “Luckily, my stuff didn’t get too damaged.”

MacLean said the maintenance workers worked hard to clean residents’ rugs, shoes and any other objects they could launder, but many girls’ belongings were too water-damaged to be reclaimed. When MacLean moved back in, there were still large fans running in an attempt to dry everything off.

“For the girls whose stuff that was damaged that needs to be replaced, I know they’re filing a report,” Mac Lean said.

Wednesday morning, residents received an email saying that Hawkins would not be reimbursing residents for any damages sustained due to the flooding.

“We are unable to assist with your request of reimbursement for damages to student owned clothing and furnishings,” the email read. They suggested reaching out to insurance companies and apologized for the unfortunate circumstances.

Other Business, Place of Worship

Sacramento, CA – Fire sprinklers keep arson church fire from spreading

Two Sacramento-area churches were damaged late Tuesday and early Wednesday morning in fires believed to be started by an arsonist.

The first fire was reported at 11:56 p.m. at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church at 14th Avenue.

Several windows were kicked in at the church and fire was set to an administrative office and library.

“It’s wasteful, that’s what it is. Somebody that don’t got nothing to do and the devil is busy nowadays. We was fortunate it’s just this amount of damage,” said church trustee and head of maintenance Richard Heidelberg.

A fire sprinkler system kept the blaze from spreading but caused major water damage in several offices.

“We have a lot of water damage and just two places with smoke damage, but all of our offices in our administration wing, all those are flooded out and the carpet and everything and down the hallway into finance and then it started into the church but it stopped,” said Heidelberg.

One firefighter suffered moderate burns during the initial fire attack and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

As firefighters were battling the blaze, an arson investigator en route to the call spotted a suspicious person and ultimately made an arrest.

They believe that suspect is responsible for both church fires.

While it will take major restoration and construction to get the Central International Church open, Heidelberg is confident his Baptist church will be back in service on Sunday.

“A lot of work to do, a lot of work to do. We’ll be back running for Sunday, that’s a guarantee,” he said.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Allegany, NY – Fire contained to electrical room at lumber company thanks to fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A fire reported at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Potter Lumber Company kept firefighters on the scene until 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Allegany Volunteer Fire Department officials said.

A report issued by the fire department Thursday said the fire at the Potter Road business, located off Five Mile Road, was determined to be accidental in nature following an investigation by Allegany fire investigators.

Gordon Scott, spokesman for the Allegany department, said there were no injuries as firefighters from several area departments were called to the scene battled the blaze.

In addition, Scott said no employees had been at the lumber company when the fire broke out.

A report from the fire department said, “due to the large industrial building and large amount of timber within the building, a large mutual aid request was put out to include Westons Mills, Knapp Creek, town of Olean, Hinsdale, Limestone, city of Olean, Portville, Cuba, Deputy 4 and National Grid.

“Engine 31 arrived on scene and began an interior fire attack while the Truck 6 crew set the tower and went to the roof,” the report stated. “Due to the sprinkler system and an aggressive interior attack, the fire damage was contained to the electrical room and a small portion of the roof above the mill.”

The fire department also thanked “all the mutual aid that responded and the multiple standby companies” that covered the mutual aid districts.

For his part, Scott said it was not only a late night but also “an early morning” for firefighters.

He said fire investigators were not able to assess the amount of damage incurred. He noted the power was shut off to the entire company by National Grid during the incident.

Messages seeking comment from officials with Potter Lumber were not returned Thursday.

An employee at Potter Lumber said the company office was open on Thursday, but didn’t indicate whether the plant was operating.

“We’re still assessing the rest of the damage,” the employee said.

A company website noted Potter Lumber specializes in the production of green and kiln dried hardwood lumber.

Apartment Building, Residential

Maple Ridge, BC, Canada – Apartment sprinkler system stops second floor fire from spreading; No injuries reported

The call initially came in late Tuesday night as alarms sounding, but it turned out to be an actual fire in the kitchen of a second-storey apartment on 224th Street and 122nd Avenue in Maple Ridge.

“It originally came in as alarms ringing, but when the crews arrived on scene, they actually found there was a fire in a suite,” Maple Ridge Fire and Rescue chief Howard Exner said Wednesday.

Initially, two trucks arrived on scene when the call first came in just before 11 p.m., but that was soon upgraded to 10 trucks.

No one was home at the time, but there were two dogs and a cat in the suite, said Exner.

“And they’re doing fine.”

He added that the building is equipped with water sprinklers.

The sprinklers activated and stopped the progress of the fire, “and allowed us to put out the remaining parts of the stuff that was on fire,” Exner said.

In addition to the fire-damaged suite, there was also some water damage to units below.

There were no injuries.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business, Uncategorized

Los Angeles, CA – Fire at large commercial building contained by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A fire that burned for 49 minutes Saturday morning damaged a large commercial building in downtown Los Angeles before being extinguished by firefighters.

Crews responded to the one-story building with smoke showing in the 300 block of East 18th Street near Maple Avenue, just south of the eastbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway at 2:44 a.m., according to Nicholas Prange of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The building contained clothing and boxes in packrat-like conditions, Prange said.

“Fire attack searched for the seat of the fire in heavy smoke conditions in the large building, eventually finding it and extinguishing it, with help from the ventilation group on the roof to help with smoke conditions,” Prange said.

Fire sprinklers inside the building kept the flames from spreading, he said.

A total of 55 firefighters worked to extinguish the fire and knock down was declared at 3:33 a.m., Prange said.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation.