Tag Archives: Oregon

Other - Retail, Retail

Portland, OR – Sprinkler system keeps fire at Goodwill in check; No injuries reported

A fire significantly damaged a Goodwill at Northeast 122nd Avenue and Northeast Halsey Street early Thursday morning, Portland Fire and Rescue said.

Crews responded to the fire shortly after 3 a.m.

When crews arrived on scene, they found heavy smoke filling the building.

Firefighters entered the building from the front and called for reinforcements. They found the fire in the back of the building near the loading dock.

Fire investigator Rob Garrison said the fire started somewhere in the vinyl or foam lining of the loading dock pad.

Garrison said a triggered sprinkler head helped keep the fire contained before crews arrived.

The fire damage was confined to the back wall, the area where trucks load and unload, and a truck that was backed up to the door at the time of the fire.

No one was injured and no one was inside the building when the fire started.

Garrison is still investigating the cause of the fire.

The store is closed until further notice.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Lebanon, OR – Sprinkler system keeps fire at Walmart from growing; No injuries reported

LEBANON, Ore. — A hazmat team responded to the Walmart Supercenter on Santiam Highway in Lebanon Tuesday after a fire started in the pool chemical area.

Fire Chief Gordon Sletmoe of the Lebanon Fire District said the fire started at about 12:45 p.m. The building was evacuated, and the sprinkler system activated. Officials said the fire is out, but the building was full of smoke for a while after the incident.

Law enforcement shut down a 300 foot radius around the store and some nearby businesses were also evacuated. A couple of city streets were closed to protect citizens from the toxic smoke.

“There were no injuries,” Sletmoe said. “Walmart did a great job of evacuating people. If there is a fire in a commercial business and somebody tells you to leave, you should leave like the customers here did.”

Crews used a thermal imaging camera to locate the fire through the smoke, and the sprinkler system kept the fire from growing. Officials said multiple types of chemicals were stored in the aisle the fire started in. Using a hose line, crews put out the fire.

Sletmoe said the hazmat team was called in to determine which chemicals were involved in the fire. Officials said it took an hour to clear the smoke to start an investigation.

The Lebanon Fire District, Albany Fire Department and Sweet Home Fire Department brought eleven apparatus and about 40 personnel to the scene. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. If you have information, contact the Lebanon Fire District or the Lebanon Police Department.

No injuries were reported.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Albany, OR – Sprinkler system activated for fire at senior living facility

The Albany Fire Department responded — twice — to a fire in a unit at the Brookdale Senior Living facility Saturday night.

Sandy Roberts of the Fire Department said firefighters were initially called to the facility, at 2445 Geary St. SE, by an automated alarm. However, staff at the facility thought it was a false alarm and called the department and told them to disregard the call, she said.

Staff eventually realized there was a fire and called the department again. The fire crews were called out for a structure fire at 10:36 p.m. Roberts said the building was equipped with sprinklers, which activated and extinguished the fire.

“It’s an excellent case showing why sprinkler systems are incredibly useful,” she said.

Roberts said the fire appears to have been started by a nightlight that fell onto a resident’s bed. The department is treating it as an accidental fire.

Albany fire personnel evaluated the resident in the unit that caught fire, but did not transport the resident to a hospital. The resident was not displaced by the fire, she said.

Roberts added that no fire personnel were injured by the fire, but a wing of the facility suffered extensive smoke and water damage.

She added that in cases of fire alarm activation, the safest option is to let firefighters come and make sure there is no fire.

“The best rule of thumb is to let us come when you have a fire alarm,” she said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Eugene, OR – Garage fire at apartment building is put out by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

An apartment garage fire ended with assistance from Cahoots on Monday. It happened around 10 o’clock Monday morning. That’s when fire officials say a small fire took place in the parking garage of an apartment complex off 18th and Mill street. They say a transient woman was sleeping in the garage and the fire started around her activity, but did not say what caused the fire. “It was really isolated, just a small area in the parking garage where it’s kind of tucked back in an area where people frequently sleep or use as a transient area,” said Austin Brushett, the Deputy Fire Marshall. Fire officials say the sprinkler system extinguished the fire. There were no injuries reported in connection to the fire.

Storage / Warehouse, Warehouse

Tualatin, OR – Sprinkler system contained fire from battery test at warehouse

A fire broke out Thursday during a new product test of six large lithium-ion batteries at a Tualatin warehouse.

Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue said crews responded to the 20000 block of Southwest 115th Avenue about 5:05 p.m. Someone from the business that was performing the testing reported the batteries were on fire.

Firefighters quickly contained the blaze, but it took a while to completely extinguish the flames. The building’s automatic sprinkler system helped contain the fire and minimize damage to the building and its contents.

A hazmat team responded, and authorities carried out a water containment plan to minimize any environmental effects, according to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. The hazmat team also monitored air quality and set up a decontamination process for crews that had been directly exposed to smoke and flames, the agency said.

Surrounding businesses were evacuated as a precaution, according to the agency, and no one was hurt.

A fire investigator responded to determine the cause of the one-alarm blaze.

The fire and rescue agency didn’t publicly identify the business where the blaze occurred in a news release late Thursday.

Apartment Building, Residential

Bend, OR – Apartment grease fire “could have been much worse” if not for activated sprinkler

Bend Fire says a residential sprinkler system saved an apartment from major damage, Monday. A unit responded to an alarm at the Outlook at Pilot Butte apartments, just before 2:30 p.m. They discovered a resident tried to put out a grease fire by putting a pan in the sink and turning on the faucet; that resulted in a ball of fire, which activated the sprinkler. The fire was out before the investigator arrived and no fire engines were called to the scene. While the blaze caused about $2,700 in damage, Bend Fire says no one was hurt and it could’ve been much worse had the sprinklers not activated. They also remind you to never put water on a grease fire. Use a lid to cut off the supply of air to the flames.

Apartment Building, Residential

Milwaukie, OR – Third floor apartment fire contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Firefighters used oxygen to revive a cat found inside a burning Milwaukie apartment on Wednesday morning, officials said.

Crews were called out about 10:30 a.m. on reports of a fire on the third floor of the Hillside Manor apartment building.

There were no reports of injuries.

Arriving fire crews worked to evacuate the building and quickly contain the fire to the third floor.

31 people have been rescued from their homes due to the water from the fire hoses and from the building’s sprinkler system. The Red Cross is going to offer temporary housing for those people.

Apartment Building, Residential

Medford, OR – Apartment fire knocked down by sprinkler system

At around 4:40 P.M. Wednesday, Medford Fire-Rescue responded to a fire alarm in the 2600 block of West Main in Medford.  Within a minute the fire was upgraded to a structure fire.  Multiple smoke alarms and a sprinkler system were activated inside one of the first floor apartments within the complex.  Neighbors were seeing smoke, but no active flames as they began self-evacuating due to the sounding alarms.  Within five minutes, the first arriving engine was able to quickly confirm that the fire was knocked down by the sprinkler system. Since all of the apartments are protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system, it also limited the damage and danger to the residents in the entire complex.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.  This incident serves as a reminder to check your smoke alarms and their batteries. Have a plan for your family, and what you’ll do if the alarm ever goes off.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Springfield, OR – Fire at Quality Inn and Suites controlled with help from sprinkler system

Guests at the Quality Inn and Suites in the Gateway area of Springfield were forced to evacuate due to a fire Monday night. Eugene Springfield Fire said they received a call at about 9 p.m. about an attic fire at the hotel. “At this point we’re in the mode of assisting the property owner and property management to restore as much as possible to a working functional level,” Battalion Chief Chris Paskett said at the scene. Firefighters say the building also has water damage from the sprinkler system down to the parts of the hotel’s first level. The cause of the fire is unclear.

Apartment Building, Residential

Canby, OR – Balcony fire on third-floor apartment extinguished by sprinkler system

Residents woke to a fire on the balcony of their third-floor apartment Thursday, Canby Fire District said.  The residents went to grab a fire extinguisher from outside the door and when they returned, the fire was under control thanks to a sprinkler a tenant discharged. The sprinkler completely extinguished the flames.  “Without the fire sprinkler system this fire would have grown before we arrived and would have caused severe damage to the structure and displaced several tenants all the safety devices working smoke alarms, fire sprinklers and properly placed fire extinguishers at this apartment complex made a difference tonight,” Nikki Hietschmidt, Canby Fire District captain, said.  Crews were dispatched to the fire, but the sprinklers controlled it before they arrived.