Apartment Building, Residential Three fires extinguished thanks to sprinkler systems (Las Cruces, NM) October 15, 2014 viking210 Over the last three weeks, fire sprinklers have eliminated three separate apartment fires in Las Cruces – September 26, October 3, and October 7. In every single one of the fires, the cause was unattended cooking, and in two of the incidents, the residents were not aware that the fire had begun. According to the Las Cruces Fire Department, the sprinklers activation in each of the incidents kept property losses minimal and prevented any injuries.