Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Chillicothe, OH – Sprinklers help contain fire at Glatfelter building October 8, 2015 viking210 A fire broke out inside a Glatfelter building Tuesday afternoon that had crews dousing hot spots for over an hour and a half. Chillicothe Fire Department Assistant Chief Steve Gallagher said the department got the call at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Despite having the flames contained shortly before 1:00 p.m., crews stayed on the scene to continue to douse any areas that could be considered hot spots, due to the amount of wood by-products in the area. According to Gallagher, the fire was in the building where the company processes wood chips, but was a “basic building fire.” The biggest struggle for crews, Gallagher said, was the height of the building and getting up high enough to douse the flames from above. Gallagher said the sprinkler system helped in the quick containment of the fire. At this time, Gallagher said they do not have an estimate on the damage.
Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility Cheshire, OH – Power plant fire knocked down by sprinklers August 3, 2015 viking210 A small fire was reported around 10 a.m. Thursday at the General James M. Gavin Power Plant in Cheshire. The power plant is owned American Electric Power. According to Tammy Ridout, manager of media relations for AEP, the fire started in the generator step-up transformer, which is what takes the generator voltage and increases it to match the transmission line voltage so that power can leave the plant. The plant is connected to the grid by 765 kilovolt transmission lines — the highest rated voltage in the U.S. Ridout said that Meigs County fire stations, including Middleport, Pomeroy and Rutland fire departments, were called to the scene, but the flames were contained before they arrived. The fire was extinguished by a deluge system, or an activated sprinkler system, she said. There were no injuries reported. Middleport Fire Chief Jeff Darst said the fire occurred in what is known as Unit 2, where the tranformers are kept behind the plant where they can’t be viewed from the road. However, smoke could be seen rising above the plant from passing motorists. Darst said the fire was contained by the Gavin Fire Brigade by the time he and his crew arrived, but that his crew, as well as Pomeroy and Rutland, all helped extinguish the flames.
Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing East Liverpool, OH – Sprinkler system puts out fire at century old pottery plant; Business back to usual for 100 employees July 25, 2015 viking210 Damages are still being assessed following a fire at a century old pottery plant in East Liverpool. The fire was concentrated in a large dryer at the Hall China Company on the city east end. An employee first noticed smoke coming out of the dryers doors around 5:30 p.m. Monday. “Then all of a sudden I saw the whole thing caught fire on the side of it,” maintenance worker Jody Eccles said. Another employee, Brian Cronin sounded the alarm. Then he went through the plant and notified people to get out,” company spokesman Chuck Henderson said. It appears the fire was the result of an equipment malfunction. “The mechanism that creates the heat for the dryer, we had a belt bind up and catch fire,” said Henderson. The fire was actually put out rather quickly. A large amount of pottery ware ready to go in the dryer was lost due to water damage. But the owner says the 100-year old structure could have sustained much greater damage if not for quick work by firefighters and the well maintained sprinkler system. “There’s a lot of wood in parts of the building and it could have gone up in a flash, said President and CEO, Liz McLvain. Hall China is now owned by Homer-Laughlin makers of the popular Fiesta ware Clean up work is well underway. McLvain says the plant has several other dryers and they are still in full production. “I know you wouldn’t have believed that last night, but today we are in business as usual,” McLivain said. And that’s good news for the plant’s 100 employees. A damage estimate from the fire is still being determined.
Office Building, Other Business Dayton, OH – Sprinkler system suppresses overnight fire at Standard Register Co. June 11, 2015 viking210 1 Comment Passers-by saw smoke coming from the Standard Register Co. complex on Albany Street and alerted authorities, Dayton District Chief Joe Meyer said.Crews forced their way inside Building No. 2 and found fire on the second floor in a graphic arts storage area where papers, some ink products and other items were burning, he said. The sprinkler system suppressed the fire and did most of the work for fire crews and kept the damage to a minimum, Meyer said. Meyer could not estimate a dollar amount for the damage. He said he doesn’t believe the fire was suspicious, but note that an arson investigator called in would have to determine the official cause of the fire.
Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Wooster, OH – Welding machine fire at manufacturer extinguished with help from sprinkler system June 8, 2015 viking210 Responding to a smoke call at LuK Inc., Wooster City Firefighters arrived at the business Sunday morning to find a fire inside a welding machine. Firefighters were called to the business, located at 3401 Old Airport Road, at 8:44 a.m. They arrived within minutes and remained on scene for more than an hour containing the fire, however much of the work of extinguishing the fire was accomplished through an internal sprinkler system, said Lt. Joe Linz. Firefighters worked with LuK maintenance workers, who disassembled the machine, and attacked the fire, using a combination of fire extinguishers, water and Chimfex flares, which emit carbon dioxide, according to Capt. Tom Graf. While there were employees working at the business at the time, the fire was contained to the machine, and there was no substantial interruption to operations, said Graf, noting there were no injuries. Loss is estimated at $1,000, he said, noting the fire is believed to have been the result of normal procedures.
Government Office, Government/Military Cleveland, OH – Sprinkler system contains overnight fire at government office May 18, 2015 viking210 According to Cleveland fire officials, a computer on the fourth floor caught fire at Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s headquarters at 3900 Euclid Avenue just after midnight Monday. The sprinkler system was triggered and contained the fire to the desk where the computer was located near the middle of the building. Cleveland firefighters said the windows in the building are bolted shut and that delayed them from clearing the smoke. Firefighters used four large fans to ventilate the building once the windows were opened. Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District CEO Julius Ciaccia Jr. said they will be open Monday and the damage was minimal to the area of the fire on the fourth floor. The scene was cleared just before 1:30 a.m.
Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise Dayton, OH – 8th floor fire at senior apartment building extinguished with help from sprinkler system May 16, 2015 viking210 Crews were dispatched to the senior living facility just before 7:30 p.m. Friday on a report of a fire in an apartment of a multi-story building. The fire originated in an eighth-floor apartment at Bethany Village, The sprinkler system activated and several medic units have been requested. Washington Twp. fire Capt. Ron Kern said the fire began in the kitchen of an eighth-floor apartment, and said the cause is under investigation. He also confirmed that two residents have been displaced because of water damage that occurred from floors eight to five.The building was being evacuated as fire crews arrived, Kern said, lauding staff for its quick work in starting that process when the fire alarm was activated. He did not know how many residents and staff had to be evacuated. We’re told by a maintenance worker at the facility that there was a fire in the kitchen of an apartment on the eighth floor, but it was quickly put out by firefighters and the building sprinkler system. Only the eighth floor was evacuated, fire officials said, and two units are now inhabitable because of water damage.
Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Franklin, OH – Fire at low-income senior apartment building extinguished by sprinkler system May 11, 2015 viking210 Emergency crews were summoned to Meadow Crossing, 825 Central Ave. for a possible fire about 12:40 p.m. requiring the evacuation of residents from the building’s second floor, according to the Warren County Communications Center. a senior apartment building in Carlisle for a reported fire. “It sounded a lot worse that it really was,” said Carlisle Fire Chief Krista Wyatt. “The sprinklers did their job.” The fire had been put out and firefighters worked to clear the building of smoke and look for any extensions of the fire. Wyatt said the side laminate veneer of the bathroom’s vanity created enough heat to set off the fire sprinklers. She said two to three apartments received some smoke or water damage in addition to the bathroom’s vanity. There are 36 one-bedroom apartments for elderly residents who earn 50 percent or below the regional median income. The building is owned by Warren County Community Services and it received a score of 97 out of 100 on its 2014 inspection by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Wapakoneta, OH – Sprinklers assist firefighters in dousing overnight fire at Koneta rubber plant April 23, 2015 viking210 Operations shut down temporarily at the Koneta rubber plant Tuesday night after a fire forced an evacuation and caused damages. Wapakoneta Fire Chief Kendall Krites.Second shift workers noticed flames on the ceiling, which is estimated 35 to 40 feet high, above where the presses run in the process of making mud flaps and other rubber products, Krites said. Ignited material dropped onto the floor and caught some of the product on fire, Krites said. About eight workers had to evacuate the building. Fire crews arrived and the building’s sprinkler system started to work to put out flames. Krites said dousing the flames created extremely smoky conditions, which created difficult conditions for the firefighters. Krites expected damage assessment and cleanup will take the rest of the week. Mutual aid was provided from Buckland and Uniopolis. There were no injuries
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.
