Tag Archives: Wisconsin

Apartment Building, Residential

Kenosha, WI – Apartment dryer fire suppressed by automatic sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A dryer fire set off sprinklers at a Kenosha apartment complex which led to damage in several units Monday afternoon.  The Kenosha Fire Department was called to Kenosha Commons, 5502 60th St., around 1 p.m.  Battalion Chief Matthew Haerter said the fire was inside a dryer, eventually breaking out and spreading into the laundry room of a second-floor apartment.

“Once it did enter the room, it came into contact with a sprinkler head, which set off the apartment’s sprinkler system due to the heat. It suppressed the fire,” Haerter said.  The apartment was filled with smoke from the fire and the action of the sprinkler system extinguishing it.

Four occupants in the affected apartment evacuated with no injuries. The department did evacuate multiple tenants within the building, and also sheltered in place some tenants who had mobility issues to keep them safe.

The Red Cross worked to find shelter for less than a dozen displaced residents. The total affected was not immediately known as the Red Cross was working with building management directly, Haerter said. At least four apartments were affected by the fire itself or water damage below the apartment where the dryer was located.

“This is the second sprinkler-suppressed fire within a week for the department, with the last at Virginia Towers,” Haerter noted. “It shows that it obviously helps us to have working sprinkler systems which can be used in extinguishing a fire.”  No one was reported injured during the incident.

Apartment Building, Residential

Madison, WI – Apartment fire held in check by automatic sprinkler system

A fire in an apartment on Madison’s North Side resulted in no injuries but some water damage.  The fire was reported at about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday in the 3500 block of Straubel Street, the Madison Fire Department said.  Engine Company 8 was initially dispatched to check on an alarm at the building, but arriving firefighters were informed there was smoke in the building.

Firefighters went into the basement of the building and found water dripping from the ceiling, indicating a problem in the unit above.  “Firefighters entered the apartment with help from maintenance, and found activated sprinkler heads keeping a fire in check,” said spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster.  The fire was extinguished and the walls were checked for any extension of fire.  Nobody was home at the time of the fire.  No cause of the fire or damage estimate was given.  The fire remains under investigation.

Other / Not Specified, Other Business

Madison, WI – Sprinkler system helps halt laboratory fire; No injuries reported

A spark from within a work station ignited flammable chemicals in a Madison laboratory Sunday, according to officials.

The fire at Covance Laboratories on Kinsman Boulevard was big enough to trigger the lab’s automatic sprinkler system. In addition to the lab’s automatic fire sprinkler system, a security guard also used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze, according to a report from the Madison Fire Department. 

When the MFD arrived, the fire was already out. There were no injuries, officials said. 

The MFD’s Hazardous Incident Team also responded to the lab to further investigate the scene and neutralize any remaining chemical hazards, according to the report. 

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Tomah, WI – Fire at assisted-living facility put out with help from sprinkler system

Thirteen people were displaced after a fire damaged an assisted-living facility in Tomah.  The Tomah Fire Department was dispatched shortly before 7 p.m. to Cranberry Country assisted living facility, where staff was evacuating the building upon arrival of firefighters. No injuries were reported. Tomah Fire Chief Tim Adler said there was heavy smoke throughout the building and that entry was made with a hand line to extinguish the blaze. 

Adler said the fire was located inside of one of the bedrooms and that the building’s sprinkler system was activated due to the temperature of the fire. He said the fire was contained to the bedroom. The building’s owner, Krista Witt, said the fire likely was started by an electric appliance − “something somebody plugged in,” she said.

The building sustained heavy smoke and water damage, but Witt hopes to bring residents back into the rooms within a week. She said two residents are staying with family members, two more were moved to empty rooms in a part of the facility that wasn’t damaged, and others are staying in nearby assisted living centers.

She said staff members got everyone out of the building quickly and that other employees who weren’t scheduled to work dropped what they were doing to help.

“The staff worked their butts off,” Witt said. “This is the first time I realized, wow, there are some really good people who work here.”

Adler said 20 firefighters were on the scene for 2½ hours.

“The fire department was awesome,” Witt said. “The whole community stepped up. It was, ‘What can I do to help?’”

Assisting the fire department were Fort McCoy Ambulance Service and Monroe County 911 Communication Center.

Adler said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. It marked the second time in four days the department was called to a structure fire. A structure on Jefferson Street was left uninhabitable Friday after a fire started in a garage.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Glendale, WI – Sprinkler system controls fire at apartments with many elderly and disabled residents

North Shore Fire and Rescue responded to the Parkside Commons Apartments, 1400 W. Custer Ave., for a report of a fire on the second floor of the building.The first arriving fire company reported an active evacuation in progress with residents reporting moderate smoke conditions on the second floor. Crews located a fire in an apartment on the second floor. There was heavy smoke and crews encountered several residents requiring assistance with evacuation.

The fire was quickly brought under control by crews. Much of the fire had already been put out by the fire sprinkler system within the structure.  There were no injuries reported.

The fire was contained to a small area within a second-floor apartment, however, the activation of the sprinkler system caused extensive water damage within the unit, as well as to the unit adjacent and a common space on the first floor. There was also moderate smoke damage to some of the common hallways in the building. Preliminary estimates indicate that the damage to the structure and contents is approximately $33,000.

According to North Shore Fire, the building is home to many elderly and disabled residents, who were able to quickly and safely evacuate thanks to the quick action of building management.  Additionally, building personnel was able to provide quick and accurate accountability information so that firefighters could focus on assisting those who were unable to evacuate under their own power.  The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation but is not believed to be suspicious.

North Shore Fire/Rescue is being assisted by the Glendale Police Department in the investigation.

Apartment Building, Residential

Racine, WI – Apartment fire started by unattended candle contained by sprinkler system

A sprinkler system is credited with containing a fire in a bedroom in an apartment Thursday morning, city fire officials said.  Racine firefighters were dispatched at 8:53 a.m. to the Regency West Apartments, 2218 Loni Lane, for a report of a fire alarm.  Fire crews, with the assistance of building maintenance, gained access to an apartment, where firefighters discovered that the sprinkler system had contained the blaze.  Fire officials said the occupants were not home at the time of the fire and no one was injured. An unattended candle was found that occupants admitted they had forgotten about, fire officials said.  Damage is estimated at $4,000 and the three occupants of the apartment were reported to be working with Red Cross for housing arrangements.  Racine police assisted at the scene.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

West Bend, WI – Sprinkler system keeps fire in check at industrial building

West Bend and Jackson firefighters battled a blaze at an industrial building on East Progress Drive near Stonebridge Circle in West Bend for about two-and-a-half hours this morning.  According to the West Bend Fire Department, the call came in around 4 AM Saturday.

Fire officials say the fire began on the outside of the building and then penetrated the steel structure. The fire did damage a natural gas line which hampered firefighting efforts.  

The building’s sprinkler system kept the fire inside the building in check,  according to officials.  At this time there is no estimate on the amount of damage to the manufacturing facility and the cause of the fire is under investigation.  

No one was injured while fighting the fire.  

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Mount Pleasant, WI – Fire in attic of assisted living facility controlled by sprinkler system

Fire investigators are looking into a fire Thursday that damaged an assisted-living facility. The emergency call went out at 3:30 p.m. at Racine Commons, 8500 Corporate Drive, just north of Highway 20, and escalated to a second alarm for equipment and personnel. South Shore Fire Battalion Chief John Radewan said as soon as firefighters got to the scene they saw smoke and flames coming from the northeast corner of the H-shaped housing complex, which is west of Stuart Road and east of 90th Street.

“I saw heavy fire,” Radewan said. Mount Pleasant police officers already on the scene helped bystanders get all the residents out of the building without injury.  Firefighters attacked the flames with streams from a ladder truck and with hoses from personnel on the ground.  “The fire came from the back of the building and extended into the peak of the building, getting into the attic itself,” Radewan said. “We opened all that up and knocked it down.”

The sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading and firefighters were able to put it out within 20 minutes without injuries to the firefighters, according to Radewan. South Shore Battalion Chief Jon Keiser, who also worked the fire scene, said the placement of the sprinkler system inside the attic prevented damage and the fire could have extended without the presence of sprinklers.

“The interior rooms were only damaged by water,” Keiser said. “The fire damage was limited to the exterior of the building and the two roof spaces. It’s a very clear picture of why you put sprinklers in attics. We would have been here for 12 hours if it would have run into the attic.”

A trash container inside a garbage area appeared to be damaged by the fire, but Radewan declined to comment Thursday on any potential cause or origin of the fire. The fire is under investigation at this time,” Radewan said. Fire investigators started taking pictures and conducting their investigation of the fire within an hour of the fire being out.  Caledonia firefighters assisted at the scene.

Other Business

Burlington, WI – Sprinkler system activates to help control carport fire at banquet facility

A van owned by a contractor working at Veterans Terrace in Burlington Monday evening caught fire and triggered the building’s sprinkler system in the carport area. No injuries were reported, however, witnesses said two dogs that were in the van were rescued. The fire broke out shortly before 7 p.m. and caused only minor damage to the carport canopy. Claude Lois, president of the Veterans Terrace Management Group, said the sprinkler heads must be replaced and the system recharged. The lower level of the building is being repaired as the result of flood damage that occurred July 12 and 13.

Adult Care/Rehab Center, Hospital/Care Facility, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Watertown, WI – Sprinkler system halts nursing home fire in wing occupied by many nonambulatory patients

The Watertown Fire Department continues to investigate a structure fire that injured one resident at Dycora Transitional Health on Hospital Drive early Saturday morning. “We’re not exactly sure of the cause of it yet, possibly electrical,” fire Chief Greg Michalek said. “The fire burned the bed with the patient in it and part of the wall.”

Michalek said the blaze was contained to a single room of the 112-bed nursing home, but the wing it is located in also suffered water and smoke damage.

He acknowledged that the casualties could have been much worse if things had transpired differently because many of the residents in the wing could not walk by themselves. Thankfully, firefighters along with a number of police officers and Dycora personnel were able to evacuate the 20 patients in the affected wing.

“Most of the people in that wing were nonambulatory,” Michalek said. “They had to be taken out in wheelchairs. The sprinkler system activated and put the fire out but there was a lot of smoke.”

A call to Dycora’s administrator was not returned before the Daily Times press time this morning.