Tag Archives: Washington

Apartment Building, Residential

Vancouver, WA – Mattress fire at new apartment complex contained by sprinkler system

A fire that started when a candle set a mattress ablaze damaged a Hazel Dell apartment Monday afternoon. The fire was reported at 2:15 p.m. at the ArdenWood Station Apartments, a new complex at 9517 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave. Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from two sides of a second-floor apartment in the middle floor of a three-story block of six units, said Sarah Walton, a spokeswoman for Clark County Fire District 6.

ArdenWood Station opened last year and is equipped with modern fire sprinklers and alarms. Both systems were triggered, limiting damage and alerting the neighbors, Walton said. The fire was quickly extinguished, but there was some smoke and water damage.

Four people live in the apartment but were not at home when the fire started, Clark County Deputy Fire Marshal Susan Anderson said. The occupants have a dog, which was out running errands with them. A pet tarantula in the house was not harmed.  The Vancouver Fire Department assisted Fire District 6. In all, four engines responded.  Anderson determined that a lit candle set the mattress on fire.

Government/Military, Other-Government/Military

Redmond, WA – Sprinkler douses fire at teen center

The Old Fire House Teen Center (OFH) in Redmond is closed today and Saturday due to a small fire that occurred in the building’s media lab early Thursday morning.

The fire was limited to a mixing board in the room and was contained by the sprinkler system.

Rana Shmait, program coordinator for the OFH, said the center will be closed just for clean up and there are no safety concerns.

Residential, Sorority / Fraternity

Pullman, WA – Sprinkler helps limit damage in fraternity house kitchen fire

Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m., members living in the Delta Tau Delta house [on the Washington State University campus]  were woken up by a fire alarm. Someone had left the stove on after cooking an early morning snack.

“The fire started here and it went to the back of the stove, it lit up,” said Sam Cook, Fraternity President.

Pullman Fire Department officials said the stove had a significant amount of built up grease that hadn’t been cleaned. “That provided a good fuel source for the fire and so once it got hot enough and ignited then away it went,” said Rick Dragoo, Fire Prevention Officer.

The grease flames activated the stove’s hood extinguisher and a nearby sprinkler.  “That kept it from moving into the exhaust system and out and possibly maybe even up the side of the house,” said Dragoo.

Apartment Building, Residential

Renton, WA – Sprinkler system extinguishes apartment fire before it can spread

A sprinkler system extinguished a fire at a Renton apartment complex Tuesday night before it could spread, according to Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department.

The call came in at 8:06 p.m. as an activated fire alarm at the Benson Downs Apartments, 11000 S.E. Petrovitsky Road.  No one was injured, but three families were displaced from their water-damaged apartments, according to Renton Deputy Fire Chief Chad Michael. The American Red Cross responded to assist them.

Four units suffered water damage, with the unit where the fire started the most affected by water and some fire, according to Michael.

The fire was started by flower-shaped decorative lights resting on the carpeted floor in the dining area, he said. Fire crews didn’t need to deploy their firefighting equipment but helped clean up the water damage.

Two engines, one ladder truck and two aid units responded to the fire. Michael stressed that the sprinkler system kept the fire in check. “The sprinkler did its job and kept the impact to a pretty minimal amount,” he said. A damage amount wasn’t immediately available.

He noted that recent fires at apartment complexes in Renton grew in size because they didn’t have sprinklers.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Seattle, WA – Sprinklers control fire in underground parking garage, according to West Seattle Blog

Update: Car fire inside Admiral underground garage; no one hurt.

5:09 PM: Sizable Seattle Fire response right now for a car fire reported in the underground garage by the Admiral Bartell Drugs. Per scanner, the sprinkler system has it under control and ventilation is the big concern now. 

5:36 PM UPDATE: Our crew at the scene says one car was involved and the fire didn’t spread to others. Lots of water on the floor inside the garage because of the sprinklers. Nobody hurt.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Yakima, WA – Fire at packaging company controlled with help from sprinkler system

Workers at Michelsen’s Packaging Company came back to work after a fire Tuesday.  Stacks of paper two stories high caught fire in Michelsen’s basement on North 2nd Ave.  The building’s sprinkler system helped control the flames.  It took firefighters more than 10 hours to clear the scene. No one was hurt. They’re still investigating how it started.

Primary / Secondary School, School / University

Battle Ground, WA – Fire in school science lab contained to one room by sprinkler system

A small fire started tonight in a science room at Chief Umtuch Middle School in Battle Ground.   A fire sprinkler had activated in the room, suppressing the fire and keeping it contained to the room, said Clark County Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Tim Dawdy. The sprinkler activation triggered an alarm to summon firefighters, who finished extinguishing the fire once they arrived.

At 9:20 p.m., firefighters with Clark County Fire & Rescue were dispatched to the school, at 700 N.W. Ninth St. When they arrived, they found a small fire in room 185, a science classroom, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.

The fire is under investigation by the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office, Dawdy said, but it appeared that a heat lamp inside an animal terrarium sparked the fire, and that flames spread to a nearby bookshelf.

Department Store, Retail

Sprinkler system limits spread of fire at drug store (Bellingham, WA)

A fire burned 24 feet of display shelving in the Sehome Village Rite Aid on 36th Street, and damages could exceed $200,000, firefighters said.

The fire started shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, and the store’s alarm system notified firefighters while its sprinkler system limited the fire from spreading, according to the fire department. Firefighters located and quickly extinguished the flames burning against an interior wall. Nobody was found inside the store.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility

Sprinklers control fire at drug treatment facility until firefighters arrive (Yakima, WA)

A man suspected of setting a fire in the bathroom of a drug treatment facility has been arrested, according to Yakima police. The man, who was not identified, was arrested Friday morning in connection with the Oct. 28 fire at Connections Treatment Center. Police say a fire set in the bathroom of an apartment unit on the first floor was contained by an automatic sprinkler system until fire crews could arrive and extinguish it. Damage was described as minimal and the facility’s more than 40 occupants evacuated without injury.