Fire forces evacuation of home for disabled
[12/28/2007] - HARTVILLE A commercial clothes dryer has been blamed for a fire that cleared residents and employees from a home for developmentally disabled adults Thursday morning. The fire started just before 9 a.m. at Hartville Meadows, 844 Sunnyside St. SW. Investigators pinpointed the blaze to a machine in a laundry room, but could not determine what caused the fire, Hartville Fire Chief Richard Kamerer said. link

Small fire forces evacuation in Rochester
[12/28/2007] - ROCHESTER — No one was harmed after a small, accidental fire caused the evacuation of three adjoining apartment buildings on Punch Brook Way around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Phyllis Hede was melting wax on her kitchen stove at her 125 Brookside Place apartment when the fire began. "I guess I (lit) the wrong burner and didn't realize it," Hede explained. She moved the pot to the sink, and safely exited through the apartment's rear door. "Boy does that sprinkler system work," she added. link

Overnight Fire Damages Drug Store
[12/27/2007] - WESTBROOK, Maine -- Westbrook fire officials are investigating an early-morning fire at the CVS Pharmacy on Main Street. link

Hollywood Video Fire
[12/26/2007] - Fire crews in Colonie are investigating the cause of a fire at the Hollywood Video store on Central Avenue. The fire broke out in the rear of the store around 8:30 this morning. Pete Lattanzio, the Colonie Fire Chief, says it was quickly put out by the sprinkler system. link

University Park may require fire sprinklers in new homes
[12/24/2007] - University Park could soon require fire sprinklers to be included in all new homes, a standard that would be tougher than any city in the region. If the proposed ordinance is approved, University Park would join a handful of places nationwide, including Scottsdale, Ariz., and Prince George's County, Md., that have similar residential fire sprinkler ordinances. link

Fire marshal recommends more residential sprinklers
[12/22/2007] - McKinney Fire Marshal John Nickles said overhead sprinklers are worth the cost of installation since they can save your house and even your life in case of a fire. Sprinklers are designed to keep fires from raging out of control, he said. “The idea of commercial sprinklers is to control the fire to the room of fire origin and to prevent flashover,” he said. “Flashover is where all of the materials in a given room are heated to the point where they all burst into flaming fire at the same time. What you may have seen in places where there’s a fire in a room and see flames primarily at the ceiling level, then all of a sudden something happens and the room is full of flames.” Nickles said sprinklers can prevent fire from reaching its flashpoint. link

Sprinklers douse early morning fire at Spartanburg business
[12/18/2007] - A functioning sprinkler system saved a Spartanburg business from major fire damage early Tuesday, Spartanburg Fire Marshal Mike Julazadeh said. link

Fire Closes Dublin City Hall To Public
[12/18/2007] - DUBLIN, Calif. (KCBS) -- City Hall was closed to the public Tuesday after because of water damage that resulted from a two-alarm fire early in the morning, fire officials said. The fire started in a planter box located in a common area near the City Manager’s Office on the second floor. The building sprinkler system actually put out the fire, but several offices suffered water damage as a result, said Fire Chief Sheldon Gilbert. link

City Council Pushes for Fire Code Change
[12/18/2007] - Charleston City Council pushes for more change six months after the deadly Sofa Super Store fire. This time, they’re aiming at the state level. The council has approved a resolution to strengthen building and fire codes. City Council is asking for help from the South Carolina Legislature to require buildings to have sprinkler systems. link

Sprinkler system douses apartment fire
[12/17/2007] - FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) A fire that sent one person to the hospital and displaced two residents has been determined to be accidental. link

Mansfield’s Old Church Inn fire was set
[12/17/2007] - MANSFIELD – A weekend fire at the Old Church Inn Apartments Saturday night was set, either accidentally or intentionally, a state fire marshal concluded today. Christmas decorations sitting on a table inside a small room were ignited, Old Church Inn Apartment Manager Susan Grant said. The sprinkler system activated in that one room and snuffed out the flames, which continued to smolder and send smoke through the multifloor facility. link

Sprinkler system helps save hotel from fire
[12/16/2007] - FORT COLLINS – A sprinkler system in a hotel was credited with helping firefighters save the structure from being destroyed by a blaze Saturday night. The Poudre Fire Authority responded to a full first-alarm fire at the Northern Hotel, located at 172 North College Ave., just before 9:30 p.m. link

Sprinkler system squelches Orenco apartment flare-up
[12/14/2007] - Hillsboro firefighters are crediting a working sprinkler system with preventing the spread of a Monday kitchen fire at the Orenco Garden Apartments, 6430 NE Alder St. Dispatchers received the call at about 7:15 p.m., and arriving crews found the three-story, 24 unit apartment building filled with smoke. link

Sprinklers extinguish apartment blaze
[12/12/2007] - Two occupants, including a 16-year-old girl, fled from a home at 1725 Marion Ave. Wednesday when the in-home sprinklers were activated by a cooking fire about 1:45 p.m. The cause of the fire was determined at the scene – food cooking on the stove was left unattended. Heat from the fire activated the sprinkler system. link

Firefighters want sprinklers in homes
[12/10/2007] - RALEIGH -- Could the state soon start requiring new homes to have fire sprinkler systems? That's what will happen if North Carolina firefighters get their way. link

SLO County adopts new sprinkler regulations
[12/9/2007] - Builders of new homes and commercial structures larger than 1,000 square feet will have to install sprinklers under a fire code updated Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors. The changes will take effect Jan. 1. link

Fire Engulfs Green Bay Apartment Complex
[12/9/2007] - GREEN BAY (WFRV) - Dozens of units at Pheasant Run apartment complex on Green Bay's east side were heavily damaged due to a fire that broke out Saturday evening. link

None Injured In Medical Building Fire In Farmers Branch
[12/8/2007] - FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- Firefighters said a medical building caught fire in Farmers Branch on Saturday morning. About 50 people were evacuated from the RHD Memorial Medical Center, and the attached hospital was sealed off to protect the patients. link

Delhi Fire Forces Dozens Out Of Homes
[12/7/2007] - DELHI -- A fire at an apartment complex in Delhi forced dozens of elderly residents into the cold early Friday. The fire broke out on the third floor of the Delhi Estates just after midnight. Fire crews sounded a second alarm to help deal with the number of people needing assistance. link

Fire Breaks Out At Elementary School
[12/7/2007] - A fire broke out inside a Northside School District elementary school in Far West Side Friday afternoon. link

Girl dies in fire, two are critical
[12/6/2007] - Overcome by a roaring fire in her Roland Park home, an 11-year-old girl died at Sinai Hospital Thursday after being pulled from the flames by Baltimore firefighters, while her 16-year-old brother clung to life in the same medical center. Their father, Stephen A. Young, a deputy copy desk chief at The Sun, was found outside the front door. Choking, he managed to tell firefighters that his children were trapped inside, a city Fire Department spokesman said. link

University increases fire protection measures
[12/6/2007] - Patrick West's radio crackled. On the other end was an alert of a potential fire in the Life Sciences Building. Within minutes, LSUPD was directed to the scene where officers discovered the root of the problem: a melted plastic beaker. link

Dorm Fire Displaces UHart Students
[12/6/2007] - HARTFORD, Conn. -- A fire ignited inside a dormitory at the University of Hartford Thursday night, months after the campus installed new sprinklers. link

Fire clears out Great Wolf Lodge
[12/5/2007] - LAKE DELTON — Fire sparked in electrical equipment scorched an unoccupied room at the Great Wolf Lodge on Tuesday afternoon, but the hotel's sprinkler system doused the flames and damage was limited to that room. link

5 Vehicles Destroyed In Hawthorne Garage Fire
[12/5/2007] - HAWTHORNE, Calif. (CBS) ― A fire in the garage of a two-story Hawthorne apartment complex destroyed five vehicles, authorities said. link

Sprinklers at apartments contain 2 kitchen fires
[12/4/2007] - Thanks to sprinkler systems installed at two Surprise apartment complexes, two small fires caused by carelessness in the kitchen last week were contained by the time the Fire Department arrived, officials said. The fires, which resulted in no injuries or displaced people, each caused less than $10,000 in damage, said Assistant Chief Kevin Pool. link

STATE COLLEGE: Four businesses damaged in early morning blaze
[12/3/2007] - STATE COLLEGE — Sprinklers helped contain a blaze in the walls of an old house Sunday morning — sparing signature businesses on East College Avenue from what a fire marshal said could have been a "tremendous fire." link

Fire at Cornerstone dorm; students evacuated
[12/3/2007] - GRAND RAPIDS -- Students were awakened and evacuated from their dormitory at Cornerstone University early this morning after a fire broke out. The second-floor fire at Cook Hall sent students into the cold just before 6 a.m. link

Sprinklers Prevent Mall Fire's Spread
[12/3/2007] - Southridge Mall in Des Moines was evacuated Monday after a fire broke out in a bookstore. Des Moines firefighters said the fire started around 8:20 a.m. in the Book Trader store. link

Grease fire forces hotel evacuation
[12/3/2007] - GREENSBORO -- A grease fire forced a hotel to evacuate this evening. The Greensboro Fire Department was called to the Candlewood Suites at 7623 Thorndike Road about 8:30 p.m. According to Battalion Chief Brent Gerald, a man was cooking food on top of his stove when it caught fire. The man, Tim Spadley, 43, of Macon, Ga., tried to put out the fire and was severely burned in the process. The sprinkler system in his room turned on and extinguished the blaze, Gerald said. link

New sprinkler system stops school fire
[12/2/2007] - PLAISTOW – A sprinkler system installed during recent renovations at Timberlane Regional High School stopped a fire from spreading yesterday in the school's gymnasium. According to Plaistow Fire Chief John McArdle the fire was contained to a small utility storage room and caused minimal damage. Only some sports equipment stored in the room was damaged, he said. link

Strip mall fire
[12/1/2007] - Tampa, Florida - Hillsborough County Fire Rescue is on scene of fire at 11645 Boyette Rd. The fire was out on arrival extinguished by the sprinkler system as it is designed to do. Units arrived on scene at approximately 9:10a.m. to an audible fire alarm and investigated finding the fire out. Hazardous Materials team was called in due to the chemicals within the building. link