Apartment Building, Residential Lynchburg, VA – No injuries in apartment fire that activated sprinkler system July 24, 2015 viking210 1 Comment Firefighters were called to the Jobbers Apartments on Kemper Street about midnight. The Battalion Chief says food on a stove caused a small fire which activated the building’s sprinkler system. The Red Cross is providing shelter for the 15 people who were displaced.
Other / Not Specified, Other Business Virginia Beach, VA – Sprinkler system contains HazMat fire at business July 17, 2015 viking210 The Virginia Beach Fire Department HazMat teams responded to three separate HazMat incidents Thursday. Around 2 p.m., fire crews were dispatched to a reported commercial fire at a business in the 2700 Block of Sonic Drive. Crews found smoke showing from the warehouse area of the business that contained cleaning chemicals. The fire progressed to the ceiling, and sprinkler heads in the building activated to contain the fire. The fire involved cleaning solvents (mineral spirit) and floor wax. HazMat crews monitored the business and surrounding area to ensure the water run-off and atmosphere was not hazardous. Fire officials said the building suffered minor to moderate fire damage. There are no hazards to area businesses and no one was injured. The fire was ruled accidental and unintentional.
Other / Not Specified, Other Business Alexandria, VA – Sprinkler system controls fire at historic Gadsby Tavern Museum June 30, 2015 viking210 A fire started Monday morning in the attic of Gadsby’s Tavern, according to the City of Alexandria. The City charactered the blaze as a “small fire.” The museum’s sprinkler system discharged and the fire was quickly extinguished by the Alexandria Fire Department and City staff. The Museum’s 1792 building, including Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant, was affected by the water from the sprinkler system. City staff are following the Museum’s disaster plan to minimize damage to the building and its collection. The Museum and the Restaurant will open to the public for regular operations on Tuesday, June 30; however, Tuesday evening dance classes at the Museum will be cancelled. Gadsby’s Tavern is known as a historic treasure. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was the center of social and political life in Alexandria and the new Federal City of Washington. The tavern served as the premier gathering place for residents, including George Washington, and visitors to eat, drink, learn, and influence history. Gadsby’s Tavern Museum is located at 134 N. Royal St. in the heart of Old Town Alexandria.
Apartment Building, Residential Purcellville, VA – Balcony fire at apartment building put out by sprinkler system June 26, 2015 viking210 The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office has determined that a fire Tuesday on Dominion Terrace in Purcellville was caused by improperly discarded smoking materials. Firefighters were called to the scene about 12:45 p.m. to 640 Dominion Terrace to find several smoke alarms sounding and smoke showing from the front of the apartment building. After further investigation, fire and rescue crews found remnants of a fire on a third- floor apartment balcony that had been extinguished by the apartment’s automatic sprinkler system. Fire department personnel determined there was no fire extension and remained on scene until the structure was adequately ventilated. With the help of the apartment building’s automatic sprinkler system, the fire was contained to the balcony of a single unit, damages were limited to $1,000 and there were no injuries to civilians or firefighters.
Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant Chesterfield, VA – Sprinkler limit fire spread after suspicious explosion at hotel June 26, 2015 viking210 Investigators are trying to figure out what caused an explosion at a Chesterfield hotel early Tuesday morning. The call came in around 4:30 a.m. for a fire alarm at the InTown Suites in the 11500-block of Green Spring Road, between Koger Center Blvd and Robious Road. Chesterfield County Fire and EMS tell us they found signs of an explosion, and some residents report the building shook. Most people were asleep when it happened, but not Brendon Chandler. “Just a big explosion and then the window just ended up in the parking lot,” remembers Chandler. He was smoking a cigarette when all of a sudden in the room above his, “The window just shot right out!” And, that’s when guests say chaos erupted. “I just heard the fire alarm go off and I heard a whole bunch of people running outside. The next thing you know, I’m waking up and just everybody’s going outside,” says resident David Rivenbark. Chesterfield Fire says the explosion happened in a room on the third floor. The blown-out window and melted plastic from the fire was evident from the outside. That fire activated the room’s sprinkler system. Some second floor rooms sustained water damage from those sprinklers. A Hazmat team was brought in and tests found no hazardous materials in the room, but investigators are calling the situation “suspicious” and say the room’s occupant was no where to be found. One guest told NBC12, she heard footsteps before the fire alarm went off. “[Someone was] hightailing it down the hall. We’re right in front of the elevator near the stairwell, and I heard the stairwell door fly open and hit the wall,” she says. Now police want to talk to that person. No one was injured by the explosion, but two hotel guests were later taken to the hospital for unrelated injuries. Police and the Fire Marshal’s Office continue to investigate.
Apartment Building, Residential Charlottesville, VA – Arson fire at apartment building doused by sprinkler system June 21, 2015 viking210 Four people were displaced by a fire in a Charlottesville apartment Thursday. The fire occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. on the 800 block of Mallside Forest Court. According to the Albemarle County Fire Marshal’s Office, this is an arson case. The Albemarle County Police Department has arrested 31-year-old Cleve Kush on a charge of burning or destroying a dwelling. A sprinkler system in the apartment limited the size of the fire and the damage it caused. The Fire Marshal’s Office reports the damage estimate is about $1,200. The investigation into the arson is underway. One person was taken to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation. The Red Cross is helping the apartment residents.
Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant Falls Church, VA – Fire at bakery contained with help from sprinkler system June 20, 2015 viking210 The fire happened at Jenin Pastry at 5820 Seminary Road in Falls Church around 9:20 p.m., according to officials. When crews got to the scene fire was coming from the back of the two-story building. Firefighters conducted an aggressive fire attack and were able to put out the fire quickly. The sprinkler system went off, which helped the fire to stay in the kitchen area, Fairfax County officials said. The smoke alarm was also activated. Nobody was injured in the fire. The fire is still under investigation, however has been deemed as accidental. Officials say the hot stove cook top was too close to the shelf and caught on fire.
Apartment Building, Residential Centreville, VA – Sprinklers extinguish unattended cooking fire in four-story apartment building June 16, 2015 viking210 A Saturday morning fire at a Centreville apartment injured one person and left nine other people without a home, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. Fire and rescue units responded at about 10 a.m. to the blaze at 5852 Post Corners Trail, in a complex behind the Newgate shopping center. They found that a sprinkler system had extinguished the fire before they arrived, but light smoke filled the four-story apartment. One occupant was transported to the Washington Hospital Burn Center by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries, the fire department said. Damage to the apartment is estimated at $23,000. Smoke alarms alerted the apartment’s 10 occupants to the fire, which was caused by unattended food left on a kitchen stove, the fire department said. The Red Cross is helping the occupants.
Office Building, Other Business Herndon, VA – Sprinkler helps contain high-rise fire to room of origin June 11, 2015 viking210 There were no injuries in a fire in a high-rise office building near Dulles Airport on Tuesday, which started in a first-floor “battery room,” according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. A security guard in the 10-story building called 911 after hearing an explosion. Arriving on the scene at about 7:45 p.m., firefighters and rescue personnel found an electrical transformer on fire outside the building, the fire department said. The building at 13820 Sunrise Valley Drive is the headquarters of Time-Warner, according to media reports. It is just south of the interchange of Route 28 and the Dulles Toll Road near Herndon. The firefighters also encountered heavy smoke coming from the lower level of the building, with flames coming from the battery room. The incident commander sounded a second alarm, bringing more than 60 firefighters to the scene, the fire department said. There were about 50 employees in the building when the fire broke out, and the firefighters ensured all occupants got out. The firefighters contained the blaze to the battery room and the transformer; it didn’t spread to other parts of the building, the fire department said. The building’s automatic fire alarm activated, as well as one sprinkler head, which helped contain the blaze. The fire department estimated that damage to the building totals $2 million. According to fire investigators, the blaze was accidental. They traced the cause to an “electrical event” in the control module of the building’s power supply.
Apartment Building, Residential Suffolk, VA – Apartment fire contained to kitchen by sprinkler system June 2, 2015 viking210 Firefighters responded to a residential fire in downtown Suffolk around 11 a.m. Sunday morning in the 200 block of East Washington Street. When crews arrived, they found that the fire had been suppressed by a sprinkler system in the kitchen of the second floor apartment. The fire was contained to the kitchen and there was no extension of fire into other apartment units or into the retail businesses on the street level. There were no injuries. The kitchen fire was ruled accidental.
