City will consider sprinkler mandate
[3/31/2007] - LONG BEACH - Less than a week after a local man leapt to his death to escape his burning condominium, a City Council committee will hear a report from fire authorities calling for older high-rise buildings in the city to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers. link

Questions remain in Wednesday building fire
[3/30/2007] - There's a lot of news from Wednesday's northeast Houston office building fire — but, at this point, there seem to be more questions than answers. Among those leading the questioning is KTRK's Wayne Dolcefino, who didn't have any luck getting information from the city about fire department response times. We imagine that'll come out eventually, but Dolcefino also raises questions about the building's safety systems — and the answers are a grim reminder of changing Houston fire codes. more

Sprinkler system may not have been working
[3/29/2007] - Office workers in a mid-rise that caught fire Wednesday afternoon said the sprinkler system in the building did not work and that fire alarms could only be heard in the hallways. The Houston Fire Department said a working sprinkler system would have prevented the blaze from spreading. link

Man Jumps From Burning Building In Long Beach
[3/29/2007] - CBS) LONG BEACH, Calif. A resident who jumped to his death from a balcony on the eighteenth floor of a burning oceanfront high-rise apartment was identified Thursday as 60-year-old John Carlyle Crews, authorities said. link

News / In Depth
[3/29/2007] - After Dec. 06 NLB Apt. Blaze, City Staff Advised Letting Pre-1974 High Rise Buildings Avoid Sprinkler Retrofits For Up To Ten Years Read What City Staff Told Council's Public Safety Committee...Still Considering Issue link

Galaxy Tower not required to have sprinkler system
[3/29/2007] - Officials say sprinkler system could have prevented death of Galaxy resident. LONG BEACH - The Galaxy Tower, a 20-story condo building with sweeping views of the Long Beach coastline, has long been considered one of the Fire Department's biggest potential hazard sites. link

Fire safety bill advances in Senate
[3/28/2007] - JEFFERSON CITY | Nursing homes and other facilities would have to install full fire alarm systems by August 2009, and most would need sprinklers by 2013 under Senate legislation initially approved Tuesday. more

Sprinklers Extinguish Overnight Fire At Claddagh Irish Pub
[3/28/2007] - MIDDLETON, Wis. -- Middleton firefighters are investigating the cause of an overnight fire at Claddagh Irish Pub at Greenway Station. more

Sprinkler stops apartment fire
[3/28/2007] - A fire at Hampton Ridge Apartments on McMeen Drive may become a case-in-point for an anticipated county ordinance, Maury County Commissioner Glen Hasse said Tuesday. link

Smoking might have set motel aflame
[3/27/2007] - Authorities believe that smoking caused a Sunday night fire in a motel room that left a man dead. link

Coffee Maker Triggers Small Restaurant Fire
[3/26/2007] - A restaurant had to be shut down after a small fire ripped through the kitchen area. more

Sprinkler system a life saver
[3/26/2007] - Its believed that a bed-ridden woman was smoking in bed, which caused the fire in the apartment building. The sprinkler system in the building may have saved her life. more

Expansion of home-safety measure sought
[3/26/2007] - MALONE — A statewide effort is under way to change building codes to require that sprinkler systems be installed in all single- and two-family homes and townhouses. link

Devastating fire burns at New Meadows High School
[3/25/2007] - New Meadows, ID-- An overnight fire has destroyed one room and caused extensive damage at New Meadows High School. more

Cooking Equipment Sparks Rancho Mirage Fire
[3/24/2007] - CBS) RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. Unattended cooking equipment ignited at a Rancho Mirage restaurant, authorities said. more

Wayne blaze renews fears about safety of apartments
[3/24/2007] - The fire last Monday at the Mountain View Crossing apartment complex in Wayne has rekindled concerns that the building isn't safe because it is surrounded by wetlands, making it impossible for firetrucks to maneuver on much of the property. link

Millions may be spent on safety upgrade
[3/23/2007] - Through a strange convergence of circumstances, residents of the senior apartment complex Bethel Towers in Costa Mesa found themselves well prepared for a fire that broke out March 1 and sent two people to the hospital. link

Fire breaks out at high school
[3/23/2007] - A fire broke out at the Saguaro High School auditorium this evening, just minutes before the school’s top choir group was expected to arrive for a concert. No one was inside the building at 6250 N. 82nd St. when the curtain caught fire and triggered the sprinkler systems on stage, said Patty Jo Angelini, public education officer for the Scottsdale Fire Department. more

Sprinkler douses fire, damages three downtown Santa Cruz businesses
[3/21/2007] - A sprinkler snuffed out a small fire in a third-floor downtown apartment Tuesday morning, but the water poured through the building and damaged five other rooms and three Pacific Avenue businesses. more

Firefighters make case for sprinklers
[3/20/2007] - Huddled together in the cold and rain on Duke of Gloucester Street last night, aldermen and other city officials watched as a room went up in flames in less than 40 seconds. Sprinklers kicked on moments later and doused the flames. Luckily, it was just a demonstration in a specialized trailer. link

Unwanted drama for Contra Costa Civic Theater: Volunteers clean up after fire, graffiti
[3/19/2007] - The show will go on at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre in El Cerrito after a small fire burned in the theater's basement last week. The fire alarm at the theater, at 951 Pomona Ave., went off about 4:20 a.m. The theater's sprinkler system kept the fire in check, and firefighters extinguished the flames. more

Prudent ounce of prevention
[3/19/2007] - Laconia has taken an important step in the area of improved fire safety. The passage of a new regulation which broadens the need for sprinkler systems strikes at the twin issues of personal safety and protection of valuable private property. One week ago the Laconia City Council took the final step in approving regulations for sprinkler systems in certain large residences. link

New Information: Knoxville Warehouse Fire
[3/19/2007] - Several old warehouses caught fire in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee on February 7, 2007. There are questions now about who disabled the sprinkler systems in one of the warehouses and why. more

A Nightmare's Lesson
[3/18/2007] - In the wake of the fire Monday night that left one resident of a Mocksville adult-care home dead and several others injured, it's clear that officials should try to ensure that this doesn't happen again in Davie County or anywhere in the state. link

Danger of fire at university sparks N.C. sprinkler request
[3/17/2007] - GREENVILLE, N.C. — Eleven years after a fraternity house fire killed five students at UNC-Chapel Hill, about 35 percent of the UNC system's dormitories still do not have sprinklers. UNC President Erskine Bowles wants to finish the job, but it will cost $48 million. more

CMS office damaged in fire Thursday night
[3/17/2007] - An office in Cleburne Middle School sustained water damage after sprinklers extinguished a fire that began around 8 p.m. Thursday night. Cleburne firefighters arrived to find that the school’s sprinkler system had put the fire out. more

Fire Damages Five Stores At Rockvale Outlets
[3/17/2007] - A fire destroyed two stores and damaged three others in Rockvale Square Outlets in Lancaster County on Friday night. more

Experts condemn many cities' fire codes
[3/16/2007] - NEW YORK - Fire fatalities have steadily declined in the U.S. since the late 1970s, thanks partly to improved building codes requiring safety measures such as sprinkler systems, multiple fire exits and fire-resistant construction materials link

Deadly Bronx Fire A Reminder That Many Urban Buildings Unsafe
[3/16/2007] - Fire fatalities have steadily declined in the U.S. since the late 1970s, thanks partly to improved building codes requiring safety measures such as sprinkler systems, multiple fire exits and fire-resistant construction materials. link

COLCHESTER - Fire officials concluded that a Saturday morning fire at a local elder care facility was caused by a basement fan.
[3/15/2007] - Colchester-Hayward Fire Chief Walter Cox said the blaze started shortly after 4 a.m. at Liberty Specialty Care. "It was an electrical fire," he said. "It started in a closet in the basement of Wing C. There were some corrugated boxes next to it that caught fire. The smoke started a sprinkler and the alarm went off." more

Fire Dept. targeting home sprinklers
[3/15/2007] - This is what we call a firefighter in every room,” fire prevention Capt. Bart Pearson told members of the Grover Beach Neighborhood Watch as he held examples of older- and newer-model fire sprinklers during a Fire Department tour. more

Fire 11 years ago prompted talk of sprinklers in adult-care homes
[3/14/2007] - The fatal fire Monday night in a Mocksville adult-care home occurred just six days before the 11th anniversary of another devastating fire in a North Carolina rest home. link

Code officers discuss sprinkler system legislation
[3/14/2007] - LAKE PLACID — More than 200 code enforcement officers attended the 12th annual New York State Building Officials Conference March 7 at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Lake Placid to discuss legislation that could require newly constructed one- to two-family homes to install sprinkler systems. link

Donor helps shelter
[3/13/2007] - Thanks to a benevolent business and a generous citizen, Gresham’s My Father’s House could receive $50,000 in matching funds to pay for a fire sprinkler system for its new shelter for homeless families. link

Officials probe suspicious Melbourne fire
[3/13/2007] - The State Fire Marshal today is investigating a suspicious fire at a law office near Melbourne International Airport that may have been started by Molotov cocktails. more

Children playing with lighters blamed for fires
[3/13/2007] - An apartment fire in south Redding and two structure fires in Tehama County on Monday burned several families out of their homes. The building didn't have a fire sprinkler system installed, which could have stopped the fire from spreading, Becker said. more

No injuries in Gameworks fire
[3/12/2007] - TAMPA - Tampa firefighters were called to put out a one-alarm fire at a popular restaurant in Ybor City this morning. more

Apartment fire ruled arson
[3/12/2007] - A Saturday night fire that gutted 11 apartments, leaving 50 people homeless, was intentionally set, police said. more

Insurance chief wants tough sprinkler rule
[3/12/2007] - State insurance Commissioner Jim Long said today he opposes a proposed change in the state building code that would ease the state’s requirement for fire sprinklers in clubs, restaurants and school cafeterias. more

Distracted cook blamed for Milford apartment fire
[3/12/2007] - A fire at the Apartments of Saw Mill in Milford last night was caused by inattentive cooking, state fire investigators said today more

Fire Put Out Quickly At Convalescent Home
[3/10/2007] - COLCHESTER -- There was a minor fire Saturday in the basement of the Liberty Specialty Care Center, a convalescent home located at 36 Broadway. more

Alarming Proposal
[3/9/2007] - WILMINGTON -- A local group says a change in the sprinkler code could be deadly. A nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003 killed more than 100 people and prompted a change in the code for fire sprinklers. more

Studio fire quickly snuffed out
[3/8/2007] - With downtown Monterey still recovering from a devastating fire last month, a fire broke out in a New Monterey commercial building Wednesday afternoon. "It was incredibly different," said Johnson. "The sprinkler system came on and contained the fire and somebody saw the fire and called 911 immediately. What could have been a tragedy was avoided."dnesday afternoon. more

Questions swirl around fatal Bronx fire
[3/8/2007] - New York- WABC, March 8, 2007) - A lot of people are asking an obvious question about the deadly Bronx blaze: 22 people, all related, living in one house. Is that legal? Is it safe? What kind of building was this that went up in flames and took so many lives? more

Fire safety proposal gets OK
[3/6/2007] - The proposal for new fire safety equipment at Iowa City drinking establishments passed its first hurdle with an approval from the city's Board of Appeals. At a meeting Monday, members unanimously voted to recommend the plan to the Iowa City Council. link

Nursing facility may add sprinklers
[3/6/2007] - Chemung County is ready to respond to pending federal legislation that would require sprinkler systems in every room in nursing facilities, County Executive Tom Santulli said Monday. link

Fire Underneath Horton Plaza Shuts Down Nearby Roads
[3/5/2007] - A fire in a commercial trash bin underneath Horton Plaza forced the closure of a nearby fitness center Monday and shut down several roads around the downtown mall, authorities reported.The building's emergency sprinkler system largely extinguished the flames, and arriving engine crews finished the job, SDFRD public information officer Maurice Luque said. more

Small fire sparks hotel evacuation
[3/5/2007] - A late-night fire forced the evacuation of a hotel Sunday. It happened at the Crescent Hotel near 27th and Dunlap avenues at about 10 p.m. more

Building Bridges
[3/3/2007] - WATERLOO --- The dust and noise of construction at the old Starlight Village motel will soon be replaced by the activity of an assisted living home. The transformation of the building into Bridges Senior Living is nearly complete --- enough so that the first open house for prospective tenants was supposed to be held today if snowy weather hadn't canceled the event. link

Calif. emergency services training classroom closer to completion
[3/1/2007] - EUREKA, Calif. — Thanks to the donations of times, labor and materials, a classroom local emergency agencies can use for training is one step closer to being finished. For years, the Eureka Fire Department and Humboldt Fire Protection District have relied on the charity of churches for classroom space to train. more

Still dreaming big for boxing
[3/1/2007] - More than a year after fire inspectors closed South City Boxing, owner Jim Wilson still hopes to open his dream program despite legal mandates from City Hall. link