Tag Archives: Night (9pm-5am)

Apartment Building, Residential

Sioux City, IA – Apartment bedroom fire extinguished by single sprinkler

An apartment sprinkler was able to extinguish a small fire in a Sioux City apartment complex Friday night prior to the arrival of firefighters, officials say. According to a Sioux City Fire Rescue news release, firefighters responded to an alarm at Prestwick Apartments, 4230 Hickory Lane, shortly before 10 p.m. Friday.

After investigating, firefighters located a single sprinkler head spraying water in a bedroom in one of the apartments.  Firefighters stopped the water and found remains of a small fire that had occurred on the dresser, the release said.  The occupant of the apartment was not home.

Upon investigation, the firefighters traced the source of the fire to an unattended candle. Damage was limited to the top of the dresser and a television near the candle, the release said.  Officials say sprinklers in buildings significantly reduce fire loss and deaths.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Fort Worth, TX – Sprinklers activate after books set on fire during elementary school break-in

There has been a break-in and six classrooms vandalized on the campus of a Crowley Independent School District elementary school.

The vandalism happened at Meadowcreek Elementary in Fort Worth, where Monday cleanup crews were busy mopping up.

In all, six rooms received water damage after fires caused the sprinkler system to go off. In addition to damage inside the school, graffiti was also spray-painted outside the building.

On what is supposed to be summer vacation, school officials are back on the Meadowbrook campus to oversee the cleanup of charred debris from burned books and school supplies.

According to a Crowley ISD spokesperson, the school was broken into and the books set on fire around 3 a.m. Monday. Right now, investigators are also looking in to whether several computer monitors were also stolen.

School cameras captured video of the suspect. It’s since been turned over to Fort Worth police.

Crowley district spokesperson Anthony Kirchner explained that the cleanup is expected to take a couple of weeks.

“It is disheartening to see that someone would cause this kind of damage and we want to make sure that person is apprehended,” he said adding that the summer break gives the district time for cleanup, repairs and equipment replacement. “This happened at a time when no students or teachers were here and we have plenty of time to get everything back.”

This isn’t the first time vandals have struck at Meadowcreek. This past Friday a window was broken at the school. It isn’t known if the two cases are connected.

Classes resume in the Crowley ISD on August 22.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Arcola, IL – Fire at senior living facility contained to one room by sprinkler system

In a fire minutes count. Practice and training pay off. On Saturday morning at about 1:30am staff at Carriage Crossing in the Green Mill Village development in Arcola noticed smoke.  Within moments are fire sprinkler was activated and staff at the assisted living facility began evacuating residents near the area of the fire.  With the help of firefighters all 46 residents were removed from the building.

“Those individuals and those residents were out within seven minutes. So the training paid off.  Everyone stayed very calm,” Cassie Yoder of Green Mill Village told WAND’s Doug Wolfe.  “Residents were with the people they knew.”

Residents are now housed in the adjoining Best Western Plus which is a sister property to Carriage Crossing. Residents and staff have settled in to a normal routine. On Monday, clean-up was underway.

“Most of the damage is just from the sprinkler system and water damage,” said co-owner Jeff Bentley. “It’s contained to one room and at this point we don’t know what caused it yet.”

Bentley says his company has constructed a new facility in Champaign that is similar to the one in Arcola. His staff is attempting to get state licensing to speed up so some of the residents can be moved to Champaign.

The state fire marshal’s office was at Carriage Crossing on Monday attempting to determine a cause of the fire.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Omaha, NE – Sprinkler system activates to help limit damage in overnight restaurant fire

A fire early Wednesday in the kitchen of an Old Market restaurant did not appear to cause significant damage. But the blaze set off smoke alarms and a sprinkler system and forced the evacuation of a nearby nightclub, according to initial 911 dispatch reports.

Roja Mexican Grill, 1212 Harney St., was closed when the fire was reported about 12:30 a.m. Police helped evacuate people from Parliament Pub.

Apartment Building, Residential

Chesterfield, VA – Early morning apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system is being credited with quickly extinguishing a fire early Wednesday at an apartment building in Chesterfield.  A fire was reported about 2:30 a.m. on the balcony of a third-floor apartment in the 4500 block of Valley Crest Drive, but the building’s sprinkler system extinguished the blaze before firefighters arrived, said Lt. Jason Elmore of Chesterfield County Fire and EMS.

The fire was caused by a discarded cigarette, Elmore said. Damage was limited to a section of siding on the building. No one was injured, but the apartment building was evacuated while firefighters investigated the incident.

Office Building, Other Business

Philadelphia, PA – Fire in downtown high-rise controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries

A sprinkler system prevented a Center City Philadelphia high-rise fire from spreading early Tuesday morning. The blaze, believed to be electrical in nature, broke out shortly before 2 a.m. on the 18th floor of 2000 Market Street, said the Philadelphia Fire Department.

Luckily no one was hurt as the sprinklers kicked in and doused the fire, said firefighters. Crews declared the blaze under control around 2:25 a.m. but hazmat crews remained at the 29-story building.  The building, which opened in 1973, houses a slew of businesses including law firms, a restaurant and a Santander Bank branch.

Apartment Building, Residential

Des Moines, IA – Sprinklers help knock down flames when fire breaks out in apartments above pizza parlor

No injuries were reported after a fire forced the evacuation Wednesday night of the Elliott Apartments above Fong’s Pizza on Fourth Street downtown.

Captain Mark Dooley of the Des Moines Fire Department said crews arrived around 10:30 p.m. to smoke and flames on the second floor of the six-story building and launched an “aggressive interior attack.”

“The flames were knocked down some with the activated sprinkler system,” Dooley said, adding that it made the firefighters’ job a lot easier.

Almost all of the residents were home at the time fire crews responded and all were evacuated by 11 p.m.

At 12:15 a.m. Thursday, Dooley said crews were no longer actively working to put the fire out but were instead checking the building to make sure the fire didn’t spread.

The heat was what was causing the most concern, Dooley said. When the fire started around 10:30 p.m., it was approximately 84 degrees in downtown Des Moines, according to the National Weather Service.

“There are medic units here just for the care of the firefighters,” Dooley said. They brought in extra medical crews and supplies solely to assist the roughly 100 firefighters working inside the complex, making sure to check their temperatures and heart rates.

No cause for the fire has been identified and the investigation continues.

Dooley said Polk County’s emergency response teams helped residents find a place to stay for the night.

Fourth Street, Walnut Street and parts of Court Avenue were reopened in time for Thursday morning traffic.

Joe Swift, a resident on the fourth floor, said he was out of the building minutes after the fire alarm went off. He said the smoke got very thick in the stairwell when he reached the second floor, making it difficult to see. He commended the men and women of the Des Moines Fire Department, who were knocking on doors and assisting residents out of the building.

“These guys do a great job, and the ladies too,” Swift said. “In old buildings like this, underneath all that carpeting is all wood. There’s lots to catch on to.”

On Twitter, Fong’s promised to repay swift work by the fire department with free pizza.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Phoenix, AZ – Sprinklers extinguish blaze after fireworks set on fire at Walmart; No injuries

The Phoenix Fire Department is asking for the public’s help identifying three people — two males and a female — who are seen on surveillance video leaving the scene of a fireworks display that was set on fire inside a Walmart store Wednesday night.

Firefighters responded to the Walmart store at 5250 W. Indian School Road on Wednesday night after the fire started. The fire department received numerous 911 calls and when they arrived at the store, there was a lot of smoke.  

The fireworks can be seen on video burning in a large flame as the trio walk away.

According to Phoenix Fire, the sprinkler system helped to quickly extinguish the blaze.

Firefighters said several people suffered from smoke-related complaints but no one was taken to a hospital or injured in the incident.

Authorities are looking for the three people believed responsible for the incident. Anyone with information about them is asked to call the Phoenix Police Department at 480-WIT-NESS.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Chicago, IL – Sprinklers contain fire at pharmaceutical company for second time this year

For the second time in three months a fire started at the AbbVie pharmaceutical research and development facility in North Chicago.

Firefighters responded about 9:40 p.m. Tuesday to a reported fire at the AbbVie Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing facility at 1401 Sheridan Road, North Chicago Fire Chief Dell Urban said.

The fire started in a laboratory and electronics storage room, she said. The blaze was contained to the room, which sustained water damage.

“The fire was held in check by the sprinkler system,” Urban said. “Everyone had been evacuated and there were no injuries.”

The chief described the fire as electrical, but said the company and the department are still investigating the cause.

Urban said there was a fire laboratory at the complex about three months ago. That blaze was also controlled by the sprinkler system.

The AbbVie Fire Department did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

Department Store, Retail

Fresno, CA – Elevator machine room fire at J.C. Penney store held in check by sprinkler system

The J.C. Penney store at Fashion Fair Mall closed for business Sunday after an electrical fire prompted its evacuation.  Firefighters got to the store at 11:15 a.m. after smoke started flooding the area inside, Fresno Fire Capt. Brian Price said.

The damage was contained to the elevator equipment room where there was wire damage, Price said, and the sprinkler system already had the fire “in check.”

The fire was put out, and fire personnel worked on getting the system back in working order. The store is still closed, but Price said store staff said they hoped to reopen Monday morning.  “They’ve got some significant cleanup to do,” Price said.