Tag Archives: South Carolina

Apartment Building, Residential

Johns Island, SC – Apartment kitchen fire contained by single sprinkler

Charleston’s Fire Marshal Division responded to a report about a fire in an apartment building on Reva Ridge Drive in Johns Island around 3 p.m. Thursday. Firefighters arrived in less than five minutes to the three-story apartment building, according to officials.

“Smoke was venting from a first floor unit and crews rapidly entered the home to discover a smoldering fire in the kitchen area,” according to the department. The occupant of the apartment was not home, however a passersby noticed smoke venting from the apartment and notified property management and 911, according to officials.

“A single fire sprinkler head activated and contained the fire damage to the kitchen,” the department states. “Investigators determined the fire originated in the kitchen and was likely caused by a coffee maker.”

Emergency responders included the Charleston, St. John’s Fire District, James Island PSD Fire Department, North Charleston Fire Department, Charleston County EMS and City of Charleston Police Department. One tenant was displaced as a result of the incident and no injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Spartanburg, SC – Sprinkler system extinguishes apartment kitchen fire; No injuries reported

Three families were displaced after an apartment fire Friday evening off Powell Mill Road.

Una Fire Chief Jeff Hadden said his department responded to a kitchen fire at about 5:20 p.m.

The fire started on the stove in an apartment at Companion at Lee’s Crossing, which is just past Jesse Bobo Elementary School.

The apartment complex’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire, Hadden said.

That apartment and the two below it sustained water damage, affecting a total of nine adults and six children.

No one was injured.

The local Red Cross chapter is providing financial and other assistance to all of those affected by the fire who needed it.

Apartment Building, Residential

Mauldin, SC – Fire at apartment complex held in check by sprinkler system until fire department arrives

On Sunday the Mauldin Fire Department responded to a fire at an apartment complex on Butler Road. Chief Bill Stewart said on Sunday afternoon the department received a call for a fire that broke out at the Bell Brookfield Apartments. Chief Stewart says the fire started on the third floor of one of the apartments as the result of a dryer. He went on to state that the sprinkler unit in the apartment held the fire in check. According to the Chief, there was damage to the unit’s laundry room, and water damage to the two apartments below. We’re told by the fire department that the apartment complex was able to move all the people who lived in the three units to vacant units and that luckily, no one was hurt. The Red Cross has also responded to help those impacted.

Grocery Store / Super Center, Retail

Anderson, SC – Walmart arson fire contained by sprinkler system

A stuffed animal was set on fire, presumably as a distraction so someone could steal a robotic vacuum, said Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart.

Three days after what authorities believe to be an arson, the Walmart on State 28 Bypass reopened this morning.

The store was evacuated Monday, with no injuries, after a fire that began near the photography department.

The small fire was quickly contained by the sprinkler system, but that caused water damage and there was a lot of smoke.

Stewart said a man has been arrested and charged.

Michael Travis Robinson, 43, is charged with second degree arson.

According to a warrant, he set fire to an item in the store causing “extendive damage to the location with numerous people present.”

These areas will be open, according to the store’s Facebook page: “produce, bakery, deli, meat, dairy, grocery, pets, paper goods, and chemicals.”

The investigation into the fire is ongoing and is being conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division along with the Anderson Police Department and the Anderson Fire Department.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Spartanburg, SC – Cooking fire at senior living facility extinguished by sprinkler system

A Spartanburg senior living facility was evacuated after a cooking fire spread smoke through the hallways.

The fire happened shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday at Pacifica Senior Living on Skylyn Drive. 

Firefighters said the fire started after a resident fell asleep while cooking.

There were reportedly no working smoke detectors in that unit, and sprinklers at the facility put out the fire. The sprinkler system is back up and running at this time.

A Drayton Fire Department’s fire marshal said on Wednesday that the room where the fire happened is unlivable, and has water and fire damage.

The fire marshal said they will be conducting more inspections to get a complete estimate on damage at the facility.

No one was reportedly hurt. 

“She’s very lucky the sprinkler system did what it’s designed to do. Had the sprinkler system not been in there then this probably would’ve turned out a different scenario,” Drayton Deputy Fire Marshall Todd Mason said.

Investigators will look into the lack of a working smoke detector in the unit. 

Drayton, Whitney, Converse, city of Spartanburg and Glendale fire crews responded to the scene. 

Apartment Building, Residential

Greenville, SC – “Their sprinkler system really saved them,” says Battalion Chief after overnight fire at apartment complex

Several families were displaced and 10 units were damaged during an early Sunday morning fire at an apartment complex on Rhett Street in downtown Greenville, officials said.  The fire was reported around 12:30 a.m. at 400 Rhett, an apartment complex named for its location. Battalion Chief Mike Marlow of the Greenville Fire Department said the fire started in the kitchen of a third-floor apartment and that several units on the first and second floors also sustained water damage.

“Their sprinkler system really saved them,” Marlow said. “The sprinkler system kept the fire contained to that one upstairs unit and kept it from spreading to others.”  Marlow said Sunday afternoon that the fire remained under investigation and that he’s not sure what caused it to start in the kitchen.   “The man who lived in the unit told us he was asleep and that he was awakened by an alarm,” Marlow said.

Heather Lockhart, a regional manager for 400 Rhett, said there was “an issue with an appliance” and that the appliance started emitting smoke.  She said a remediation company was working at the apartment complex Sunday to assess and repair the damage.

“We’ve very thankful everyone is safe,” she said. “We’re doing our best to help them and to get through this. Thankfully, some of the people have been able to return to their homes.”

No one was injured in the fire.

At least 22 firefighters responded to the blaze and remained at the scene for several hours, Marlow said.

The American Red Cross said in a prepared statement Sunday that it is responding to help residents who were affected by the fire.

“American Red Cross disaster-trained volunteers are assisting multiple families whose homes located on Rhett Street, were damaged by a fire early this morning,” the statement read. “The Greenville City Fire Department responded to the blaze. The Red Cross is helping two adults by providing financial assistance for food, clothing, lodging and other essentials, and comfort kits containing personal hygiene items.”

According to its website, 400 Rhett is a collection of one- and two-bedroom apartments that feature gourmet kitchens, granite counters, plank flooring and nine-foot ceilings. The apartment with the smallest floor plan, 588 square feet, has a monthly rent that starts at $1,125. The larger units, which have private balconies, have monthly rental prices that begin at $1,620.

Apartment Building, Residential

Port Royal, SC – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in controlling apartment fire; Device being charged caught fire

Residents of 9 apartments were displaced Tuesday night after an electronic device caught fire on a resident’s couch at the Parc at Broad River complex in Port Royal, according to fire officials.  Fire Chief Reece Bertholf, of the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department, said the device, which was being charged when it caught fire, was burned up in the blaze.

He would not specify what type of device it was but said insurance investigators would be making that determination.  The building’s sprinkler system was activated and residents were evacuating when firefighters arrived just after 6:30 p.m., according to a news release from the fire department.  Smoke was coming from the third-floor apartment where the couch was burning, the news release said.

It said firefighters were able to put out the fire “within minutes” of arriving. The apartment where the fire started sustained fire, water and smoke damage, Bertholf said. Neighboring apartments sustained various levels of water damage.

Attempts to reach apartment managers by phone on Wednesday were unsuccessful.  Bertholf said there are 36 apartments in the building.  No one was injured in the fire, the news release said. Burton and Parris Island firefighters also responded to the scene. Burton Fire District posted a photo on Facebook of a firefighter holding a cat that was rescued from the building.

 

College/University (on campus), School / University

Columbia, SC – Electrical fire at Coliseum extinguished by sprinkler system

The University of South Carolina’s Carolina Coliseum was damaged in a fire Thursday morning.

Firefighters responded to an alarm at around 10:15 a.m. after a construction worker cut through a live wire he believed was turned off, causing electricity to arc and start a small fire, said Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins.

Nobody, including the worker who cut through the live wire, was injured, and by the time firefighters responded, the building’s sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, Jenkins said.

Jenkins called the fire “very minimal.” 

A commercial-size dryer at the 12,000-seat arena — which predominantly serves as a practice facility for the university’s basketball teams and houses the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management — was damaged, Jenkins said.

Though the building had smoke in it when firefighters arrived, the smoke did not cause damage to the building. It did, however, receive minor water damage from the sprinklers being activated.

Before Colonial Life Arena opened in 2002, basketball games and big concerts had been held at Carolina Coliseum since 1968. USC committed to renovating the building in 2017.

Other - Manufacturing, Recycling / Waste Facility

Fountain Inn, SC – Sprinkler systems keep fire outside plastics business from spreading into structures

Dispatchers said the fire was reported at Ameri-Pak at 477 S. Woods Drive before noon last Tuesday.   The fire burned an area between buildings, but the side of several buildings was singed.

Fire Chief Ronnie Myers said the fire burned mostly outside where the business takes in scrap plastics.  The fire was out within a few hours, but crews were still monitoring hot spots late Tuesday afternoon.  Officials said the sprinkler system went off in both buildings, which helped to contain most of the fire outside.  Several fire departments including Oconee, Pickens, Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg and Laurens assisted, Myers said.

“Once you get plastic burning, it’s very hot. It gets so hot, you can’t put it out with just water. You have to put foam on it to smother the fire. It was a very intense fire,” Fire Chief Ronnie Myers said.  Ameri-Pak is a packaging company. Its website says that the company services manufacturers including 3M, Sealed Air, Tape Logic, Rubbermaid and Ivex.

Hotel / Motel

Myrtle Beach, SC – Fire in 9th floor maintenance office of high-rise hotel contained with help from sprinkler system

Myrtle Beach Fire Department crews responded to a 2-alarm fire at a hotel in downtown Myrtle Beach shortly before 2 p.m. on Friday. MBFD Deputy Chief Tom Gwyer believes the fire started in a maintenance office on the 9th floor of the Monterey Bay Suites on Ocean Boulevard. The sprinkler system went off and the 9th and 10th floors were evacuated. Crews were able to get the fire under control.  Gwyer also says there were no injuries but initial crews who responded to the fire are recovering from the heat and climbing stairs in their gear. An Horry County ambulance is on scene in case crews need medical attention.