Tag Archives: Virginia

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Fairfax, VA – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in controlling recycling center fire

Firefighters from Fire Station 30 in Fairfax County responded to the report of a fire early Sunday morning, at the Merrifield Recycling Center, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Police Department. 

Units arrived to find water and smoke coming out of the indoor recycling facility, prompting a request for a second alarm. Additional units from Fairfax and the Arlington County Fire Department arrived soon after. 

No injuries were reported from the scene. Fire damage was limited to recyclable materials. The fire sprinkler system and use of firefighting foam limited the damage to $1,000.

Investigators determined the fire started from an exothermic reaction in one of the recyclable material piles, which caused the materials to catch on fire.

Fire / Police Station, Government/Military

Roanoke, VA – Fire in police station extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries

The Roanoke Police Department’s Station had to be evacuated on Thursday evening because of a fire.  The fire broke out in a room on the third floor of the building, according to Tiffany Bradbury with Roanoke Fire EMS.  She said everyone was evacuated from the building and that no one was injured.  The sprinkler system was activated and the fire is now out; however, firefighters are currently checking the building to make sure everything is clear.  Campbell Avenue is still closed to traffic.  The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Vinton, VA – Sprinkler system halts fire in maintenance closet at fabric manufactuer

Firefighters responded to a small fire at Precision Fabrics in Vinton on Saturday night.

The fire caused no injuries and had been extinguished by a sprinkler system by the time units arrived, said Lt. Richard Williams of Roanoke County Fire & Rescue.

The incident, which occurred at about 10 p.m., didn’t damage the facility at 323 W. Virginia Ave., he said.

“It was like a plastic bucket of materials that caught on fire, not the actual structure,” he said. The fire occurred in a maintenance closet in an outlying part of the facility, he said.

Fire units from Roanoke, Roanoke County and Vinton responded to the incident.

Apartment Building, Residential

Dumfries, VA – Apartment kitchen fire contained and extinguished by sprinkler system

On Sunday, February 5 th at 9:50 p.m. fire and rescue units were dispatched to an apartment fire located in the 16600 block of Harwood Oaks Court in Dumfries. Upon arrival, firefighters heard the smoke alarm sounding.

As they made entry, fire and rescue crews observed a kitchen fire that had been extinguished by a sprinkler head in the kitchen. Due to activation of the building’s sprinkler system, the fire was contained to the kitchen area and quickly extinguished. The occupants were not home at the time of the fire; no injuries reported.

According to the Fire Marshal’s Office, preliminary damages are estimated at $40,000. A Building Inspector posted the home unsafe. Red Cross was on scene to assist the family, 3 adults and 4 children, displaced by the fire.

The origin and cause of the fire was a cooking fire on a kitchen stove top and has been determined as accidental.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Sterling, VA – Sprinkler system limits spread of fire that started in paint booth

The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office has determined that the Jan. 26 fire at a Sterling commercial facility was accidental.

Just before 7:30 p.m., the Loudoun County Emergency Communications Center received a call reporting a structure fire in a commercial building in the 45000 block of Elmwood Court in Sterling.

The initial caller reported a fire in an interior paint booth which was followed by a call from the fire alarm company reporting a water flow alarm inside the structure. Fire and rescue crews from Kincora, Sterling, Cascades, Ashburn, Lansdowne, Moorefield, and Fairfax County responded to the incident, Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer Laura Rinehart said.

Upon arrival, firefighters found active fire and smoke conditions coming from the two-story commercial occupancy. Fire crews deployed hoselines to initiate an attack on the fire. The building’s sprinkler system had activated, limiting the fire spread to other portions of the building. One occupant, the initial caller, was located safely outside of the structure upon arrival of fire and rescue units, Rinehart said.

Firefighters extinguished the fire with assistance from the sprinkler system, containing the fire to the area or origin, preventing extension into adjoining areas of the structure.

The Fire Marshal’s investigation determined the fire to be accidental in nature with $25,000 damage to the structure and $75,000 to the contents. There were no injuries to civilians, though one firefighter on the scene was transported to a local area hospital for evaluation after a medical emergency, Rinehart said.

Other - School / University, School / University

Henrico, VA – Overnight fire at public school learning center is put out with help from sprinkler system

A fire at the New Bridge Learning Center will keep the Henrico Public Schools facility closed on Friday after a fire early Thursday. A Henrico fire official says the blaze in the 5900 block of East Nine Mile Road started just after 4 a.m. on the second floor of the facility. It was extinguished with the help of an automated sprinkler system.   During the search of the building, fire crews also discovered a burst water pipe. The fire, which remains under investigation, was brought under control in about an hour. No injuries were reported.  Henrico school officials say all pre-school and Elementary Intervention classes at New Bridge Learning Center will be cancelled for Friday and they expect the center to re-open for students and staff on Tuesday, January 17, 2017.  Spokesman Andy Jenks also said the School Board work session originally scheduled in the New Bridge Auditorium will take place at the Henrico Western Government Center at Parham and Hungary Springs roads at 1:30 p.m.

Apartment Building, Residential

Harrisonburg, VA – Fire department credits sprinkler system for extinguishing grease fire at apartment building

According to a release by the Harrisonburg Fire Department, a residential sprinkler system is to thank for saving a city apartment complex.  Around 2:30 p.m. on Monday, January 9th, firefighters responded to the 100 block of Chestnut Ridge Drive. Once crews arrived, they discovered a grease fire, which started on the stove, was already extinguished by a residential sprinkler system.   Although the sprinkler system uses water, that’s not how they recommend you put out a grease fire. They say the best method is to put a lid on the pan to smother the grease or to use a fire extinguisher.

Captain Mike Armstrong, deputy fire marshal with the Harrisonburg Fire Department, said you never want to pour water on a grease fire yourself.  “The amount of water that is being put out far exceeds what you or I would put on that pan, so the system will suppress the fire,” added Armstrong.   While sprinkler systems aren’t common in homes and aren’t required by state code, they can help save money in an emergency.  “In the case of residential sprinkler systems, fire damage and cost, is reduced one tenth to one twentieth, so you’re talking ten to 20 times less damage and cost in the end,” explained Armstrong.   Capt. Armstrong also recommends keeping a fire extinguisher in your kitchen area, but not right next to your stove because of its accessibility if there are flames.

Apartment Building, Residential

Richmond, VA – No injuries reported in early morning apartment fire contained with help from sprinkler system

Residents in a downtown Richmond apartment building were evacuated shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday after a report that a couch had caught fire in one of the units.  The fire was reported in the Broadway Apartments, located above the Walgreens in the 300 block of East Broad Street, at 4:33 a.m. Saturday. The first crews were on scene about six minutes later, officials said.

Firefighters did not find a fire when they arrived, but the first and second floors were heavily enveloped by smoke, prompting the evacuation, said Lt. Chris Armstrong, spokesman for the fire department. A sprinkler system had activated in one of the apartments, he said.  The incident was marked under control at 4:53 a.m. after crews checked on all the residents.  No injuries were reported.

Apartment Building, Residential

North Stafford, VA – Apartment complex fire held in check by sprinkler system; No injuries

A fire in a North Stafford apartment complex Friday afternoon damaged three apartments, but no one was injured.  Stafford County firefighters responded to an apartment building on Minuteman Circle shortly before 2:45 p.m. and found a fire on the patio of a ground-floor unit that had spread into the apartment and to the balconies of the two units directly above, according to a news release from Stafford Fire and Rescue.  The building’s sprinkler system held the fire in check until firefighters could extinguish it.

 The three damaged units at Stonegate Apartments were deemed uninhabitable, displacing 10 adults and five children who were relocated to other facilities.    The fire caused an estimated $75,000 in property damage and $10,000 in damage to building contents.

The sprinkler system and a quick attack by firefighters is credited for saving $1.9 million in property and contents.

Office Building, Other Business

Norfolk, VA – Fire at downtown high rise office building doused by sprinkler system

A floor buffer caused a cleaning solvent to catch fire Wednesday in the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Norfolk. Crews were called to the building, located at E. Charlotte Street and Monticello Avenue, for a fire alarm at 7:14 p.m. The call was later upgraded to a fire.  Fire officials say the fire was sparked as crews cleaned the building, when a buffer ignited a cleaning solvent. That activated the building’s sprinkler system. By the time firefighters got to the scene, there was no active fire.  The sprinkler system caused some water to collect in the building’s basement and in the elevator shaft.  Cleanup efforts are now underway.  The operator of the floor buffer was taken to a local hospital with some burns to his hands.  He’s expected to be OK.