Apartment Building, Residential Yuma, AZ – Apartment kitchen fire suppressed by sprinkler system September 15, 2017 viking210 The City of Yuma Fire Department responded to an alarm at around 1:00 p.m. indicating a fire sprinkler in an apartment at the Palo Verde Villa Apartments Thursday afternoon. Yuma Fire Department personnel arrived and made entry into the second story apartment, finding extreme heat built inside. Upon further investigation, it was determined a stove top and oven had been left on for an extended time and the extreme heat, in excess of 155 degrees, had triggered a sprinkler head nearest the stove. Although there was no active fire at the time of entry, firefighters found that the heat had begun to damage wood cabinets above the stove. The sprinkler head was shut down and YFD personnel worked quickly to vent the heat and remove the water that had been released during the activation. Water from the sprinkler was not found to have gotten into the downstairs apartment. It was determined that the stove/oven was being tested in anticipation of future tenants and had been accidentally left on by a maintenance worker. It is believed that the continued heat buildup would have eventually ignited a fire if not for the sprinkler system.
