Tag Archives: Tennessee

Retail, Storage / Warehouse

Spring Hill, TN – Firefighters contain tire fire at Discount Tire store with help from sprinkler

The Spring Hill Fire Department responded to a fire outbreak at Discount Tire on Main Street Saturday night, which both Spring Hill firefighters and members of the Williamson County Rescue Squad successfully extinguished within a few hours.

“We get the call a little bit after 8 (p.m.), and when we arrive, sprinkler heads are already activated, and we’ve got a heavy fire in the tires and smoke coming out of the roof,” said Spring Hill Fire Chief Terry Hood. “Where the sprinkler wasn’t putting the fire out, we had active fire between some tires. We spent about two to three hours getting it under control.”

According to Hood, the source of the fire has been determined to be a heat gun that was near some cardboard boxes. A heat gun is sometimes used in the tire installation process, specifically for the installation of wheel weights.  “By the rack of tires we found the trash can, and there’s no other possible cause of ignition there,” Hood said. “When the fire attacked the cord [of the heat gun], it melted away, which caused the wires to short [circuit].”

Hood said the performance of both his firefighters and the Williamson County Rescue Squad was “excellent,” especially considering the dangers tire fires can bring. Tire fires are difficult to extinguish, and release dark smoke that contains dangerous chemicals such as cyanide and sulfur dioxide.

The Discount Tire closed at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and the manager reportedly left the business at around 7 p.m., with Spring Hill Fire receiving a call about smoke roughly an hour afterwards.  The manager at the Spring Hill Discount Tire, Joe Stevens, said he immediately returned to the business after hearing reports of a fire, and feared the worst.  “Honestly, I thought the whole thing burned down,” Stevens said. “When I pulled in, there were already fire trucks here and police officers, thank god they were here. I honestly thought the whole building was going to be down.” The Discount Tire is temporarily closed, but will be reopened “within a few days,” according to staff.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Chattanooga, TN – Fire at foam facility controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Chattanooga dispatchers confirm an early morning fire damaged a foam facility in Chattanooga.

This happened at Woodbridge INOAC Technical Products on Judd Road. 

Battalion Chief David Thompson Jr. said that when firefighters with Quint 10 arrived on the scene and confirmed they had a fire at the rear of the building, a second alarm was requested to bring in additional firefighters and equipment.

Chief Thompson said the fire was located in a stack of foam blocks. The building’s sprinkler system activated and helped to contain the spread of the flames. The fire was declared under control in about 45 minutes. No one was hurt.

CFD spokesman Bruce Garner says an estimate on the dollar loss was still being assessed, but most of the commercial business was spared any serious fire damage. The cause of the fire will be ruled accidental.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Knoxville, TN – Sprinkler system extinguished fire at plastics manufacturing plant

Rural Metro Fire responded to a fire at Republic Plastics on South National Drive around 5:30 Sunday evening.

When crews arrived on scene, they found a large smoke charged building and no evacuation in progress.

Rural Fire Metro said after their initial investigation, they found a roll of product that had been on fire but extinguished by the sprinkler system.

Officials said large fans in the building along with fans from the fire department were used to ventilate the building back to safe levels so employees could re-enter the building.

The exact cause of the fire is under investigation by Knox County Fire Investigators.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Oak Ridge, TN – Overnight fire at assisted living facility extinguished by sprinkler system

Oak Ridge city officials say a sprinkler system was key in putting out a fire at an assisted living facility Friday before it spread to other parts of the building.  The fire was reported around 12:38 a.m. Friday at NHC Healthcare on Laboratory Road. An employee reported seeing fire coming from a clothes dryer and then saw water in the dryer area.

The fire crew controlled the water coming from the sprinkler, closed the gas and disconnected power from all three dryers. No one was injured and there was no fire damage around the dryer.  The facility was back to normal operation within 24 hours.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department says this was the second time within 24 hours that a lifesaving device properly performed its function in the case of a fire. A house fire was reported on Thursday on East Drive where a smoke alarm woke up the resident and likely saved his life.

Fire officials want to remind everyone that having working smoke alarms and a working home sprinkler system increase your chances of surviving a fire by 80 percent. They also note that all sprinklers do not activate at once, only the one closest to the fire. Ninety percent of the time, one sprinkler contains the fire.

Restaurant

Spring Hill, TN – Fire at BBQ restaurant suppressed by sprinkler system

Martin’s BBQ Joint, 55 South and the Salty Goat were evacuated Tuesday night after a fire broke out in one of the kitchens.  There were no injuries or structural damage to the building.  “The sprinkler system did it’s job – that’s what we have sprinklers in buildings for,” said Spring Hill Fire Chief Terry Hood. “When they opened up the pit, it flared up. It was basically a grease fire.”  The source of the grease fire, according to workers on the scene.

The fire broke out on the north end of Martin’s Bar-B-Que at around 8:50 p.m., and smoke quickly filled the building.  Anthony Hall was getting a drink with a friend at 55 South when he first saw the smoke. Hall said he thought it was normal smoke from putting out the ovens, until he noticed the smoke wasn’t stopping. Hall said the fire department arrived about five minutes after the smoke started, ordering everyone to evacuate the building.

Martin’s opened in March in the Spring Hill Station building which shares an outdoor seating area with the other restaurants. All three restaurants have since returned to normal operations.

Apartment Building, Residential

Knoxville, TN – Apartment balcony fire contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The Knoxville Fire Department worked an apartment fire Sunday night on Knotty Pine Way at University Heights apartments.  They say the fire appeared to have started on the 2nd floor balcony of an apartment. KFD says the sprinkler system had the fire contained by the time firefighters arrived.  There was smoke and water damage to one apartment. KFD said, as a safety reminder, it is against fire codes to grill on a balcony of a mutil-family dwelling. Grills must be at least 15 feet away from any structure. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

Franklin, TN – Sprinkler system extinguishes apartment fire

A Franklin woman’s pet cat will live to see another day after a kitchen fire nearly destroyed the unit. 

Officials say the fire happened around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday evening at the Grove at Shadow Green apartments off Columbia Avenue. 

The fire was started when a burner on the stove was left on, igniting the microwave and other combustibles around the appliance. 

The blaze was extinguished by a single automatic fire sprinkler, officials say protected the other occupants in the three-story, 30-unit complex. 

“We are thankful the fire sprinklers performed as designed – preventing a much different outcome for the pet and the other families living in the building,” said Franklin Fire Marshal Andy King. “The Franklin Fire Department encourages all prospective tenants to choose apartment complexes with fire sprinklers when possible. They are lifesavers.”

When responders arrived on the scene, they first rescued the tenant’s cat and then ventilated the unit and turned off the sprinkler. 

The tenant was not home at the time of the incident. She returned after neighbors notified her about the fire. 

The unit below also suffered water damage. 

Officials estimate the damage to the two units at around $25,000. 

Apartment Building, Residential

Knoxville, TN – Apartment fire put out with help from sprinkler system

An apartment fire in North Knox County was quickly put out Tuesday afternoon, according to Rural/Metro Fire.  The fire was reported at an apartment complex on Vintage Way. Officials say the automatic sprinkler system and a portable fire extinguisher quickly put out the fire.  Firefighters will remain on the scene for an undetermined amount of time. Officials say there was only minimal damage to the apartment.

Apartment Building, Residential

Chattanooga, TN – No one hurt in early morning apartment fire suppressed by sprinkler system

An early morning fire last left a family of five displaced.  Chattanooga firefighters were called to the Stoneridge Apartments about an automatic fire alarm going off around 3:00 am Tuesday morning.  Firefighters were told by some residents that there was a small fire in a vacant apartment on the second floor.  The buildings sprinkler system had been activated. Firefighters only had to stomp out the remaining fire.  The main damage caused by the fire was damage from water that leaked into the apartment below.  Red Cross volunteers are helping the family because the power to their apartment had to be turned off.  The cause of the fire is being investigated. No one was hurt.

Restaurant

Nashville, TN – Kitchen fire at downtown restaurant controlled with help from sprinkler system

Merchants in downtown Nashville is indefinitely closed due to a fire on Thursday morning.  The Nashville Fire Department responded to the Broadway establishment during the 8 a.m. hour to put out the fire.  The owners of Merchants said there was a small fire on the third floor kitchen caused by a smoker. The fire set off a sprinkler system and crews are busy at work cleaning all three floors and getting the building back in shape.  “The good news is, this building has seen much worse than this in the 100-plus-years that its been around, so we’ll be up and running in no time! We are trying to reopen for service tomorrow, June 1.” – Merchants  Currently, cause of the fire and extent of the damage has not been released.