Tag Archives: Texas

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Austin, TX – Sprinkler system controls car fire in W Hotel parking garage

A car fire at a downtown parking garage has prompted the closure of a portion of 3rd Street Sunday afternoon.

Austin Fire Department officials said crews were called to the W Hotel parking garage at 200 Lavaca St. at around 2:45 p.m. Firefighters made quick work of the blaze as it was confined to a single vehicle and a sprinkler system helped dampen the flames before emergency workers’ arrival.

But the fire set off a series of related events led by the road closure at 3rd Street between Guadalupe and Lavaca streets. A nearby Starbucks at 3rd and Lavaca streets reportedly was evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Restaurant

McKinney, TX – Sprinkler system keeps restaurant dumpster fire from spreading

The McKinney Fire Department (MFD) responded to an incident at 8 p.m. Thursday at Spring Creek Barbeque, 1993 U.S. 75, where first responders saw smoke and heard the fire alarm upon arrival.

An investigation revealed the fire sprinkler system had activated and suppressed a fire within the dumpster. A single sprinkler head is credited for the minimal fire damage and reinforced the value of fire sprinkler systems in commercial structures.

Twenty five MFD personnel and investigators from the fire marshal’s office responded to the fire. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was determined to disposal of ashes into the dumpster.

“This successful sprinkler save continues to demonstrates the effectiveness of automatic fire sprinkler systems in a commercial environment. Had a fire sprinkler system not been present, the outcome may have been very different,” said Deputy Fire Marshal Andrew Barr.

For additional information on fire protection systems, code requirements or other fire prevention topics, visit mckinneyfire.org or call 972-547-2862.

Department Store, Retail

Cedar Park, TX – Arson fire at Walmart suppressed by automatic sprinkler system

“Lots of black smoke just radiating from that area,” described Jackie Sinclair, who was inside Walmart early Wednesday morning as flames shot up to the ceiling. The fire happened at the store on 201 Walton Way in Cedar Park around 1:44 a.m. Sinclair posted video to Facebook of the flames, which appear to be in an aisle behind the watches and jewelry section. Cedar Park Fire Department says two separate fires were set inside, one near the apparel and another in the vacuum aisle. Police are investigating it as arson.

“How did this happen?” Sinclair says on the video. “Time to go — that’s a little too big for my taste.” Sinclair said she had just gotten off work and was stopping by Walmart to get some groceries and avoid the crowds. “That’s crazy, like I’ve never seen nothing like that before, so I didn’t really understand what was going on.”

Police do have a suspect who has been interviewed, but not arrested. Investigators say it is not a Walmart employee. “It is unusual, of course, I don’t know a lot of details of the motive right now,” explains Randle Blesing, fire marshal for the Cedar Park Fire Department. Blesing says three sprinkler heads went off, putting out most of the flames. Walmart employees evacuated the store. “Thirty seconds in, I was like in, I shot the video and I was out, I did not want to stay in there,” recalls Sinclair.

No one was hurt. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The store will remain closed until further notice so staff can assess the damage. Walmart says employees at the Cedar Park store are being reassigned to nearby stores so they can still work and won’t lose any hours.

People have set fires in other Walmart stores before. A quick Google search turns up more than a dozen in the past few years. The damage can be expensive. Two years ago, fires in a West Virginia Walmart caused more than $2 million in losses. Police arrested and charged two 12-year-old boys for starting those fires.

Last year, a man lit a fireworks display on fire inside a Walmart in Phoenix. No one was hurt, but the store sustained several million dollars worth of water and fire damage. Police arrested a suspect a few months later and charged him with arson.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Granbury, TX – Laundry fire at senior living facility doused by sprinkler system

Automatic fire alarms began going off at around 9:30 p.m. last Sunday at the Lakestone Senior Living facility on Highway 377 in Granbury, according to city of Granbury Public Information Officer Bethany Warner.  The fire started in a dryer in the main laundry, Warner said. The building’s sprinkler system limited the fire to the dryer and there was minimal damage to the laundry room, she said. Residents were let back into the building about 15 to 20 minutes after evacuations began, she said.

Apartment Building, Residential

Farmers Branch, TX (No Media Coverage) – Cooking fire at multifamily home doused by single sprinkler head

***NO MEDIA – FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED***On November 16, 2017, Farmers Branch Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire at a multifamily residential apartment building located at 11700 Luna Rd. (Bldg 4) in Farmers Branch. Forty apartment units are within Building 4. The Farmers Branch Fire Department discovered a kitchen fire had been extinguished prior to their arrival by a single 25 gallon per minute residential sprinkler head.

Occupant reported that she was cooking breakfast in a skillet and stepped away from the kitchen for a few minutes. Upon returning to the kitchen, she observed the frying pan on fire and extending upward to the microwave. Sprinkler head activated. Her husband was in the shower at the time of the fire. Fire damage was estimated at $1,050. Multiple lives were saved by a single sprinkler head activation.

 

Apartment Building, College/University (on campus), Residence Hall/Dormitory, Residential

San Antonio, TX – Fire in university apartment building under construction put out by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system put out a small fire in an apartment building under construction at the Our Lady of the Lake University campus Sunday morning. The San Antonio Fire Department said the fire started around 11:30 a.m., and firefighters arrived to a smoke-filled room. An SAFD spokesperson said, while the building was under construction, the sprinkler system was functioning. The cause of the fire is under investigation, and SAFD said it’s not clear yet how much damage was caused.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Houston, TX – (no media coverage) Hotel kitchen fire contained by single sprinkler

***Fire Department Reported – No Media Coverage *** The Harris County Fire Marshal’s office reported a sprinkler save at the TownPlace® Suites by Marriott at 11040 Louetta Road in Houston. The fire was caused from unattended cooking, causing a grease fire. The occupant fell asleep while cooking chicken strips. A single sprinkler activated containing the fire to the stove area.

Apartment Building, Residential

Lubbock, TX – Early morning apartment fire extinguished by sprinkler system

Lubbock Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating two separate apartment fires that occurred on Thursday. The first occurred at about 5 a.m. at The Ranch Apartments, 1002 Frankford Ave, according to a Lubbock Fire Rescue social media post. The fire was reportedly extinguished with minimal fire damage to the apartment prior to the crew’s arrival. According to the post, the smoke detectors awoke the resident and the sprinkler system assisted in extinguishing the fire. LFR FMO were called to investigate, and the fire has been ruled as undetermined.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Temple, TX – Sprinkler system keeps fire at nursing home from spreading

A sprinkler system kept the flames of a fire that broke out in a bedroom of a local nursing home from spreading, Temple Fire & Rescue spokesman Thomas Pechal said Friday.  Eleven units and 25 firefighters were dispatched just before 5 p.m. Thursday to the Senior Care Center of Marlandwood East at 1511 Marlandwood Rd.

Firefighters found light smoke in a hallway and then discovered heavy black smoke filling the room in which the fire started, Pechal said.  “A small fire was visible on the bed and a sprinkler head flowing water was limiting flame spread,” he said in a press release Friday.

“The fire was quickly extinguished. Firefighters conducted a search of nearby rooms for possible victims and found that residents and staff had safely evacuated,” he said.

Investigators traced the cause of the fire to an electrical outlet with a damaged cover plate.  An electrical short sparked the fire after a metal bed frame came into contact with the damaged cover plate, he said.  No one was hurt.  Damage was estimated at $7,000.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Farmers Branch, TX (No media coverage) – Fire originating in commercial smoker quickly doused by sprinkler system

***No media coverage – Fire Department reported***  On October 7, 2017, Farmers Branch and Carrollton Fire Departments were dispatched to a structure fire at a commercial building located at 13801 Diplomat in Farmers Branch. The Carrollton Fire Department made entry and discovered a kitchen fire had been extinguished prior to their arrival by a single 25 gallon per minute sprinkler head.

An employee on the scene reported that chicken in a commercial smoker caught fire, and when she opened the smoker door a “fireball” rolled out and set off the sprinkler head. Fire damage was prevented by the quick activation of the fire sprinkler. The water damage was limited to a small area of the kitchen.