Tag Archives: Oklahoma

Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

Norman, OK – Fire sprinklers put out fire sparked by phone charger in dorm room; No injuries reported

Students living in Couch Tower at OU had a sleepless night after a fire started in a 10th floor dorm room. It was  from a phone charger plugged into an extension cord.

It happened around 2 a.m. Friday, and many residents thought it was a prank at first.

“I’m getting ready to go to bed, and all of a sudden the alarms start going off,” Charlie Reynolds said.

“Me and my roommate thought it was a joke at first, because the rest kind of had been,” Elizabeth Wright said.

“All of sudden I see videos on everyone’s stories like, ‘Ugh, not again,’ and me and my roommate look out the window and outside is just like a bunch of people,” Alexa Perez said.

That’s when students started to realize something was going on.

“They were knocking on the doors and everyone was like, ‘Get up, you need to evacuate,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, okay,'” Lauren Kennedy said.

The sprinkler system activated after the fire started, soaking some of the rooms. The tower was evacuated. No one was hurt.

“In this case, the fire that started was right next to the bed. There were actually elements of the bed, including the mattress and sheet and coverings, that caught fire, so in this case, the fire sprinkler activating and putting the fire out actually saved the student’s life,” OU Fire Marshal Justin Daniels said.

Students had to find other places to sleep. Some slept in their cars, the storm shelter or at friends’ places.

Professors were asked to provide appropriate accommodations on finals for students who’d been affected.

“I was planning on studying this morning, so I didn’t really get that chance,” Wright said.

“I have a very important final tonight, and I need to pass it, and I’m running on very, very little sleep because of this,” Reynolds said.

“I’m honestly really tired,” Julia Wu said. “I got like an hour-and-a-half of sleep,” Perez added.

The university is working with students to address damage to belongings.

Daniels says it’s a good idea to plug chargers directly into wall outlets rather than an extension cord.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Cushing, OK – Laundry room fire kept under control by sprinkler system at nursing home; No injuries reported

A laundry room fire at a Cushing nursing home on Tuesday called for a complete evacuation of residents.

The 41 patients who were calling Linwood Village home were taken by community members to the Hillcrest Hospital down the street. Residents stayed there overnight, and hospital staff said many of them have now been taken to other nursing homes around the Stillwater and Tulsa area.

The hospital says they’ve trained for mass intake situations before and they had no issue taking in all the residents.

“As the fire department and emergency squads started rolling in, I mean, they were using school buses and everything else to transport their patients,” Hillcrest Hospital C.E.O. Kevin Hawk said.

No patients were seriously hurt in the fire and firefighters were able to save most of the building, thanks to a working sprinkler system, which kept flames under control until firefighters arrived.

No word on when the nursing home will be able to reopen.

City officials say family members of patients who stayed at Linwood Village can check to see where they’ve been relocated by calling 918-225-2915.

Office Building, Other Business

Tulsa, OK – Fire sprinklers contain cubicle fire at AT&T building; No injuries reported

All streets are back open after the Tulsa Fire Department responded to a fire at a high-rise building downtown Tuesday morning.

Officials said the AT&T building near 6th and Denver had smoke on several floors. No one was inside the building at the time and officials said the sprinkler system did activate, helping to contain the fire. Investigators believe the fire started in a cubicle on the third floor.

The building houses millions of dollars of telecommunications equipment for the entire region.

Detroit Ave. was shut down between 5th and 6th streets in front of the building while crews investigated.

Fire crews are still working to learn the cause of the fire and say no one will be allowed on the second and third floors of the building for remediation work.

Apartment Building, Residential

Oklahoma City, OK – Fire sprinkler activation keeps apartment fire under control

Oklahoma City firefighters are crediting a sprinkler system for helping keep an apartment fire under control.

Just after 12 p.m. on Monday, firefighters were called to the Lake Hefner Townhomes, near Rockwell and Britton.

Firefighters say the flames triggered the sprinkler system, which knocked down most of the fire. Officials say four units were damaged during the fire, but those units were having electrical work done when the fire started.

Officials say one person was being treated for breathing issues.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Muskogee, OK – Fire caused by malfunctioning popcorn machine controlled by sprinkler system

A Sunday afternoon fire in the concession area of Apex Cinema, 2812 W. Shawnee Bypass, caused the theater’s evacuation and sent two people to the hospital.

The fire began shortly after 5 p.m. due to a malfunctioning popcorn machine, which in turn set off the building’s sprinkler system, said Muskogee Fire Captain Brian Fuller.

“The system extinguished the fire and flooded the front part of the building there with water,” Fuller said. “We got the sprinkler head shut down, removed the smoke from the building and shut the power off to that area.”

Fuller estimated the theater would be shut down for “several days” while cleanup takes place.

Muskogee Emergency Medical Service Community Relations Coordinator Trish German said two people were transported from the scene in ambulances. Their conditions and the nature of their injuries remain unknown, German said.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Oklahoma City, OK – Sprinkler system kept cooking fire from spreading; No injuries reported

Firefighters have battled a blaze at a hotel in southwest Oklahoma City.

Crews responded just after 10:30 a.m. Monday morning to the scene at the Oak Tree Inn and Suites near I-40 and Meridian.

Officials said the cause of the fire is a cooking accident. It started on the third floor, and firefighters said they had to act fast.

“It did appear to start in a room, and it spread to a room or two and into the attic area,” Oklahoma City Fire Department PIO Benny Fulkerson said. “You’re dealing with a pretty old building here; it’s not brand new. Any time you get a fire into the attic of a building, it can become catastrophic pretty quickly.”

It was later discovered a sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading into the attic. According to the Oklahoma City Fire Department, it was a 3-alarm fire.

Oklahoma City resident Joe Acord was mowing the grass at the Waffle House next door when he noticed the flames.

“I actually saw the flames coming out of that one third floor room. I didn’t see any other rooms that were on fire,” Acord said. “I did see some stuff coming out of the eve but, right when I basically looked back, the fired department actually showed up.”

The fire was out 15-20 minutes after firefighters arrived on scene.

Officials said two units sustained heavy fire damage, while six others had water and smoke damage.

Part of the hotel was evacuated as firefighters continued to extinguish the blaze and check for hot spots.

There are no injuries.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Oklahoma City, OK -Warehouse fire kept in check by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A fire at a warehouse in southwest Oklahoma City was quickly put out by crews Monday night.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department says the initial report of the fire was received by an alarm monitoring company.

Fire crews were requested and sent to the scene around 11:03 p.m. near SW 29th and Council.

When crews first arrived, they found visible smoke coming from the roof vents of the warehouse. Officials say were were also offices in the building.

The fire was found in the warehouse portion of the building, and likely started in an area where a cutting torch had been used earlier in the day.

OKCFD says the sprinkler system kept the fire from becoming too big.

Crews were able to quickly put the fire out.

There were no reports of any injuries.

Officials say the fire caused around $5,000 in damage.

Retail

Tulsa, OK – Sprinkler system helps control intentionally set fire during armed robbery, stand-off with police

Police are questioning a man they arrested after a three-hour standoff at the Dollar General near Admiral and Harvard.
Investigators say Treveon Vaughn also confessed to several other robberies this year.  Police said around 8:00 Friday morning, a man armed with a gun and dressed in black went into the store to rob it. The employees were able to escape, leaving the suspect inside the store alone.

Police also believe a getaway driver left Vaughn at the scene. Tactical teams got in place, guns were drawn, and the police chopper flew above as Tulsa’s Special Operations Team worked to get the robbery suspect out of the store.  “You don’t have to rob, steal and kill from people just to get what you want. There’s help out there,” witness Crystal Turner said.  She said her cousin was one of the cashiers who was inside when it happened.

“I don’t know why people can’t get jobs instead of robbing, stealing and killing from people. It’s sad,” Turner said.  During the three-hour standoff, police said Vaughn started a fire, activating the store’s sprinkler system, so police called in the fire department.  “We see cops up here about two to three times a week just for Dollar General,” witness Fred Lollis said.  Lollis and his wife couldn’t help but wondered what the commotion was.

“I do know that there’s a lot of stuff that happens at the Dollar General, and the store manager is always having to come out and chase people down almost daily,” he said.

Vaughn eventually surrendered peacefully.  “He did come out of the store peacefully which is what we wanted to happen,” Officer Jeanne Mackenzie said. “We wanted him to come out. We didn’t want anybody hurt or injured. We didn’t want the officers hurt or injured, so it was a very successful operation for us.”  Police are still looking for the get-away driver.

Retail

Lawton, OK – Arson fire at Dollar Tree last month put out with help from sprinkler system

A Lawton man is now charged with arson after police say he started a fire in a Lawton store last month.  Police say 20-year-old Thompson Williams is the man who was caught on surveillance video setting a fire inside the Dollar Tree on 2nd street on July 15th.  They say his arson attempt failed because an employee using a fire extinguisher and the store’s sprinkler system put out the flames.  Williams is charged with fourth degree arson, and is set to appear in court in October.

Apartment Building, Residential

Norman, OK – Arson fire apartment complex is put out by sprinkler system

Officers say James Cox, 23, has admitted that last Thursday he broke several windows at a shopping center located off Alameda St., as well as others on the west side of town. Police say these damages surpass $4,000.  One Supercuts employee says Cox was spotted on security footage around 4:00 AM tipping trash cans into store windows. Police say 6 to 8 were damaged in total.

“When I walked in and locked our door, I noticed there was glass all over our floor,” says the Supercuts employee. “At that time I called police and walked up and down the sidewalk, and saw that Ace (Hardware) had been hit, we had been hit and Sally’s (Beauty Supply) had been hit.”

But hours later, around 9:30, surveillance footage caught a different crime scene. This time at the Brookview Apartments.  Someone called 911 after a fire started in one of the units.  The sprinkler system extinguished the fire before it spread.
•Dispatch: Hello
•Caller: The water is coming down? Okay. The fire is out now. We had to turn off the sprinkler system. I don’t know, someone burned the apartment down. Someone, I am not sure.

Firefighters says they later found a pile of laundry on a bed, dowsed in lighter fluid.

That apartment belonged to Cox mother according to investigators.

“They were in route to the scene when the police department called them and said that they had a person of interest that they needed to come talk to,” says Deputy Chief Mike Wilson of the Norman Fire Department.

Cox had been tracked down by officers who were using images captured hours earlier by the cameras at the Alameda shopping center.

“When our investigators showed up, he confessed to the investigators that he was the one who started the fire. Wanted to make sure no one was injured in the fire he started,” says Deputy Chief Wilson.

Cox will be in court next Tuesday.

He faces one count of First-Degree Arson and Four Counts of Malicious Injury to Property Over $1,000.