Tag Archives: South Carolina

Apartment Building, Residential

Greenville, SC – Apartment kitchen fire put out by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Three families are out of their homes following a kitchen fire at an apartment complex. The Red Cross says it’s helping six adults and seven children. It happened Wednesday night at Berea Heights Apartments on Lions Club Road. Berea Fire Department said there was a kitchen fire in an apartment. The sprinkler system put out the fire. However, water seeped into apartments on lower levels. No one was reportedly hurt in the fire. Firefighters say all three families were displaced due to water damage. The Red Cross is providing financial help with lodging, food and other necessities.

Apartment Building, Residential

Beaufort, SC – Fire department credits sprinkler system in controlling apartment kitchen fire

Burton Fire District and Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department responded to a fire at Ashton Pointe Apartments in Port Royal Friday evening, according to a Burton Fire District release. The fire broke out at around 6:30 p.m. Friday in an apartment kitchen, the release said. Firefighters arriving on the scene found smoke emanating from a second floor apartment in the complex, which is located on Robert Smalls Parkway.

“I was met outside the affected apartment by a female resident and with her child” said Lt. Josh Waskow of the Beaufort/Port Eoyal Fire Department in a Department release, which also said he was the first fire officer on the scene. “She told me her stove top, cabinets and kitchen were on fire and when we entered her apartment we found the fire completely contained and almost fully extinguished through the activation of two residential sprinkler heads.”

Firefighters were able to finish extinguishing the fire on their arrival, the Burton release said, limiting fire damage to the stove and cabinets.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Myrtle Beach, SC – Arson fire at hotel contained to room of origin by sprinkler system

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The Horry County Police Department arrested and charged a man in connection to a fire that displaced dozens of hotel guests in Horry County. According to J. Reuben Long Detention Center booking records, Tracy William Nelson, 45, of Myrtle Beach, was charged with second degree arson. Horry County Fire Rescue responded to the fire Tuesday evening at City Studios Hotel, located at 401 Hospitality Lane in Myrtle Beach. Responding crews say the fire was confined to a room on the second floor. A sprinkler system activation helped keep from spreading.

An official report from the Horry County Police Department says officers were “informed that it appeared a fire was started intentionally, due to a stove-top burner being left on with a box on top of it.” According to the report, officers were told no one was staying on the second floor because of ongoing renovations, with the exception of people hired to help with the project. Guests at City Studios Hotel were relocated to different hotels in the area, according to Horry County police. No injuries were reported. Nelson remains in jail Wednesday night on a $10,000 bond.

Apartment Building, Residential

Burton, SC – Apartment kitchen fire caused by unattended cooking extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Just after 6 p.m. Thursday, Burton and MCAS firefighters responded to an alarm activation at Magnolia Park Apartments on Laurel Bay Road. When they got there, they found the residents evacuating and smoke was coming from a second-floor apartment. Upon investigation, crews learned the resident fell asleep while cooking. The unattended food ignited, and the growing flames spread to the cabinets activating the fire alarm as well as a single fire sprinkler head which extingui9shed the fire before the first firetruck arrived. That sprinkler system saved Christmas for 16 families in the apartment complex. No injuries were reported.

Fire crews say cooking is the leading cause of fires, and with the holidays approaching, Burton Fire officials are urging citizens to be extra careful when at the stove, and to place fire extinguishers where they can be seen, quickly accessed, and used.

Apartment Building, Residential

Myrtle Beach, SC – Sprinkler system keeps apartment fire from spreading; Fire contained to room of origin

Myrtle Beach Fire Department crews responded to 1075 Mr. Joe White Avenue, the Alliance Inn, Friday morning for the report of an apartment fire, according to Lt. Jon Evans with MBFD.  Evans stated that all occupants were out of the building when crews arrived, and that most of the fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system in the room the fire started in.  The fire did not extend to any further rooms.  The fire is still under investigation at this time, check back with WMBF News for more information.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Myrtle Beach, SC – Kitchen fire at Best Western hotel extinguished by sprinkler system

North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue crews responded to an alarm activation that turned into a structure fire call at the Best Western.  According to a Facebook post from North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue, crews were called around 5 p.m., Sunday evening to the Best Western on 1600 block of South Ocean Blvd. When crews arrived, they proceeded to the 6th floor to check the area that was activated and were met by occupants saying they could smell smoke. The incident was upgraded to a structure fire and response crews connected into the standpipe to prepare for fire attack in one of the rooms on the 6th floor. There was a small kitchen fire that was extinguished by the activated sprinkler.

Other Business

Sumter, SC – Sprinkler system controls fire at uniform company; Firefighters extinguish flames upon arrival

Sumter Fire Department extinguished a relatively small blaze at a local service business’ facility early Saturday morning, according to a spokesman and an official report.  Emergency units responded to a fire alarm at UniFirst, 2040 Union Camp Blvd., and arrived on the scene at 4:04 a.m. Saturday. Within two minutes, the units had the fire officially under control, according to the incident report. Sumter Fire Department Battalion Chief Joey Duggan said the facility’s emergency sprinkler system actually had the fire under control and saved the building from more extensive damage.

“The sprinkler saved it,” Duggan said. “If the company didn’t have a sprinkler system in that building, it would have been a big problem.”

The building was unoccupied at the time, and no one was injured, according to Battalion Chief Steven Dara, who was on scene. Dara said spontaneous combustion of soiled towels and rags contained in a few large laundry baskets caused the fire. Dara estimated the damage/loss at $30,000.

UniFirst provides uniform rental and facility services to business and industry in Sumter County and surrounding areas.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Gloverville, SC – Sprinkler system helps extinguish fire at senior living facility

It was a long morning for the people living at the Village at Horse Creek.

Captain Harold Cain at the Langley Fire Department responded to the call he said, “When we got there we had people upstairs and there was smoke coming from the room, dispatch let us know one of the residents said there was smoke coming from that room.”

The Langley Fire Department says one elderly man caused the fire around three-thirty this morning.

“He was smoking and he fell asleep and it caught the couch on fire,” said Cain.Aiken County Police and the Langley Fire Department were able to get more than 30 people out of their apartments, including the man who started the fire.

Sherill Mikell, a resident at the Village at Horse Creek was there to see it.”He brought him outside and sat him down on the sidewalk and i just thought that is a hero,” she said.

The residents were taken to clearwater baptist church because of water damage from the sprinkler system.

“They took them to the church this morning, they have a gym up there and the emergency management and the bus took them from there and they opened the church up for them to stay there,” said Cain.

Red Cross stepped in to help everyone, by supplying them with food and water.

“This morning red cross comes and they fed us sausage biscuits and then this afternoon for lunch we had subway,” said Mikell.

Most people were allowed back in their rooms around three o’clock this afternoon, but red cross made other hotel arrangements for at least four residents who could not move back in just yet because of water damage.

Apartment Building, Residential

Aiken, SC – Sprinkler system keeps overnight apartment fire from spreading

The Aiken Department of Public Safety is investigating an early morning fire Sunday at an apartment complex on Hollow Tree Drive in Aiken that left multiple people homeless. Sgt. Michael Grabowski, with Aiken Public Safety, said fire crews responded to Hollow Tree Drive around 12 a.m.  “It was a small fire,” Grabowski said. “Crews came in quick and got it under control as fast as they could.”

Two apartments caught fire, but the buildings sprinkler systems helped prevent the fire from being worse, Grabowski said. No one was injured in the fire, he said.  American Red Cross disaster-trained volunteers reported Sunday morning that they are assisting multiple families whose homes were damaged by the fire.

Other Business

Charleston, SC – Firefighters and sprinkler system help limit spread of intentionally set vehicle fire

The Charleston City Fire Department says a car fire in downtown Charleston Thursday evening was intentionally set. Emergency personnel from Charleston Fire Department were dispatched to the vehicle fire, with additional units dispatched from Charleston, North Charleston, and James Island Fire Departments responded to Archdale St and West Street just before midnight on June 1. Charleston County EMS and Charleston Police were on standby.

Crews reported seeing a car on fire at the loading dock area of the Majestic Square building. The building fire sprinkler system had activated to protect the building, generating the alarm, and slowed the fire spread. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze and prevented further damage in the area. Members of the Fire Marshal Division responded to the scene and determined the fire was intentionally set. Fire Investigators from CFD and members of the Charleston Police Department are now investigating. Damage to the building was limited due to the activation of the fire sprinkler system and the quick response and suppression by responding personnel, officials say.