Sprinklers, firefighters save Nashua factory
[4/30/2007] - NASHUA – Fire struck a Nashua manufacturing plant yesterday morning, but the building's sprinkler system kept the blaze in check until firefighters were able to put it out, the Nashua Fire Rescue department said yesterday. more

Fire levels popular Mesa Dairy Queen
[4/30/2007] - Shattered glass and debris littered a Mesa parking lot Sunday after heavy flames and smoke destroyed a local Dairy Queen. There were two female employees inside but no customers at the time of the fire, Mesa fire Captain John Jayne said. No one was hurt. more

Zimmerman Fire Recovery Brings Better Library Setting for Students
[4/30/2007] - In the year since the serious fire in the basement of Zimmerman Library, large portions of the building have been reopened to the public. The entire 257,000 square foot building has been cleaned and the first floor just above the fire scene has been redesigned, rebuilt and once again enjoys intensive use by students. more

Fire district pushes sprinkler ordinance in Menlo Park
[4/27/2007] - Firefighters plan to point to the East Palo Alto residential fire that killed nine people a decade ago when they make their case Tuesday to the Menlo Park City Council for putting a fire sprinkler ordinance on the books. link

Fire Chief: Sprinklers Could've Stopped Apartment Fire
[4/27/2007] - (Columbia) - The scene Friday at Pavilion Towers was much different than the one late Thursday afternoon. While all eyes were then on a burning building, some residents are now taking a closer look at the building's sprinkler system--or lack thereof. more

Thompson's fire safety bill signed
[4/27/2007] - Safety has been another priority of this year's General Assembly despite the talks of property taxes and other topics. more

Damage estimated at $50,000 in Den-Mat fire
[4/25/2007] - Fire officials are still investigating the cause of a slow-burning overnight fire that caused an estimated $50,000 to Den-Mat Corporation at 2727 Skyway Drive. more

UNC fire causes $150,000 in damage
[4/24/2007] - An early morning fire at the University of Northern Colorado has resulted in an estimated $150,000 in damage to the Helen Langworthy Theater of Frasier Hall. more

Fire In Shop Causes Shopping Mall Evacuation
[4/23/2007] - Hundreds of people were evacuated from Milford shopping mall on the North Shore after a fire broke out in the $2 Shop. Twelve fire engines were called around 3.30pm from across the region, along with police and ambulance, for what was feared to be a major incident. link

Bill: Tax Credit for In-Home Sprinkler Systems
[4/23/2007] - While many people feel safe knowing there are working smoke alarms in their homes, there is one more measure you could take to reduce fire damage, and save lives. There's new legislation hitting our state house that could help us "sprinkle more safety." link

Police: Fire In Oceanside Under Investigation
[4/22/2007] - OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A fire that caused about $5,000 damage to a vacant commercial building in Oceanside was under investigation Sunday. The fire at 3801 Ocean Ranch Blvd. was reported at 7:48 p.m. Saturday, said Ken Matsumoto, a battalion chief with Oceanside Fire Department.  more

St. Mary's Hospital must fix fire sprinkler or lose accreditation
[4/21/2007] - The city of Passaic's last remaining hospital will lose its accreditation if it does not replace a faulty pump for the fire sprinkler system at its facility for psychiatric patients, officials said Monday. link

Sprinkler legislation reaches state Senate
[4/20/2007] - Legislation that would strengthen fire-safety regulations for group homes has advanced to the Missouri Senate after being approved in the House. link

Hobby Lobby in flames
[4/19/2007] - HAMILTON — Hamilton firefighters were called to the Hobby Lobby craft store on Washington Boulevard around 2:15 a.m. today. Crews told Local 12 WKRC that smoke was billowing from the business when they got there. more

Fire experiments show value of sprinklers
[4/19/2007] - The Bobby JeffMarks Pub erupted in flames Wednesday afternoon after a state fire official set fire to a Christmas tree from a hole in the wall link

City helps fund sprinkler systems downtown
[4/19/2007] - A $250,000 downtown fire sprinkler incentive program will reimburse owners of eight downtown buildings for up to 75 percent of the cost of installing a sprinkler system. The systems cost between $30,000 and $50,000. link

Saved By Sprinkler Systems
[4/18/2007] - Twice in the past several days, fire sprinkler systems have successfully contained rapid spreading fire resulting in saved property, according to the Fire-Rescue Department. Both sprinkler systems were properly maintained and functioned as designed. more

Fire hits Miller Elementary School in Mansfield
[4/16/2007] - MANSFIELD — Warren L. Miller Elementary School students here will have no school for at least a week due to a midnight fire that extensively damaged their building. The fire, which was called in about 12:15 a.m. Friday by head teacher Sam Rotella, damaged at least eight classrooms, including the Head Start classroom and the music room, superintendent Joseph Kalata said. link

Investigators, attorney enter deadly office building
[4/16/2007] - The attorney and an investigative team were on the scene today along with the attorney representing Misty Weaver. That is the woman who is accused of setting the fire. They were all inside the building for about two hours this morning. Randall Sorrels who is representing the Jeanette Hargrove's family has a team of investigators working with him on this case. But only he and a former HFD fire chief were allowed in the building. more

Early morning grease fire singes Buckhorn Grill
[4/15/2007] - Napa City Fire crews responded to a fire at Buckhorn Grill early Saturday morning. The fire began at 7:27 a.m., when cooks ignited grease on a stove and caught fire to the hood vent, Napa City Fire Capt. Peter Langham said. Flames spread into the building's ventilation system and when fire crews arrived they saw smoke seeping out of roof. "The sprinkler system prevented any extension of the fire and saved the building," he said. "We just basically completed the extinguished and helped with water removal." more

Home Sprinkler Systems Cut Fire Risk
[4/14/2007] - Fire Fighters say sprinkler systems aren't just for apartment buildings and offices anymore. Today, any home can have one. Deputy Fire Chief David Gee says those systems can truly save lives and says last weekend's fire at the Ramada Inn, in downtown Eau Claire, was a prime example. link

Fire destroys large Chico cafe that doubled as a church
[4/14/2007] - Matthew's Cafe, in the Almond Orchard Shopping Center, was gutted by a fire Friday afternoon that caused 19 other businesses to temporarily shut down. Damage to the building and its contents was initially estimated at up to $450,000. link

200 evacuate in Tucson House fire Blaze at 17-story building quickly doused; many firefighters respond to help elderly
[4/13/2007] - A fire at a city public-housing apartment complex north of Downtown forced about 200 people out of their homes Thursday afternoon and caused $75,000 in damage, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman said. No one was seriously injured in the fire at the Tucson House, 1501 N. Oracle Road. Fewer than 12 people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, said Capt. Paul McDonough. more

Bill is quick response to tragic Anderson fire
[4/12/2007] - On Nov. 27, fire swept through the Anderson Guest House, a residential care facility, claiming the lives of 11 people. The fire is suspected to have been caused by faulty electrical wiring, but no one will ever know for sure, as evidence was lost in the blaze. Like too many facilities in Missouri, the Anderson Guest House did not have a sprinkler system. link

Woman dies in fire: Smoke engulfed third-floor apartment
[4/12/2007] - Pending the results of an autopsy, police are not suspecting foul play in the Wednesday death of a Marietta woman who is thought to have been overcome by smoke at her Second Street apartment complex. Valley Apartments owner Charlie Schilling said Fulton moved into the 21-unit apartment building last September. He said there was a working smoke detector in the apartment, but that the building, built in 1951, lacks a sprinkler system. Marietta Fire Department officials said the smoke detector at Fulton’s apartment had no battery. link

Sanford apartment-fire victims expected back in today
[4/12/2007] - SANFORD -- Most of the 20 families displaced by a Wednesday night fire at Sailpointe Apartments near downtown Sanford should soon be back in their apartments, fire officials said this morning. The fire broke out about 6:15 p.m. in the attic of a building containing 20 apartments, said Tim Robles of the Sanford Fire Department. Firefighters requested a second alarm to provide additional equipment and manpower as a precaution because there are no fire sprinklers in the buildings, Robles said. At one point, four firefighters were knocked to the ground by spray from a hose and a third alarm was sounded because of the uncertainty of their injuries, he said. They were not hurt. more

Fire Breaks Out At UCSD Lab
[4/11/2007] - SAN DIEGO -- A non-injury fire broke out Wednesday in a laboratory at a UC San Dieto School of Medicine building, authorities said. more

House approves sprinkler requirements for care facilities
[4/11/2007] - Jefferson City � The House approved new fire safety requirements today for mental health facilities and group homes in response to a November fire at the Anderson Guest House that killed 11 people. link

Sprinklers Not Required at Humane Society
[4/11/2007] - JACKSONVILLE, FL -- All the dogs, cats and other animals who called the Humane Society home, had nothing but firefighters to help them. The building is classified as a warehouse under the state fire code. And that means it didn't have to have sprinklers, smoke alarms, or an alarm system. link

Sprinkler system saves Berlin apartment building
[4/10/2007] - BERLIN — All occupants of a Berlin apartment building escaped unharmed thanks to the building’s automatic sprinkler system, which managed to contain a Monday afternoon fire in a kitchen. more

Grants to help pay for fire sprinklers
[4/10/2007] - City staff members are recommending that grants be provided to the owners of eight downtown buildings to help them install fire sprinkler systems. more

Cause of apartment fire remains undetermined
[4/10/2007] - The complex, with 226 units, was built in the late 1960s and does not have a sprinkler system, a safety feature that would be required under today's building codes, said township manager Tim Tieperman. Should the owner rebuild, a sprinkler system would have to be installed, he said. link

VA asks state inspection of vet facility
[4/10/2007] - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has asked state health officials to conduct an inspection of the troubled Homelake assisted-living cottages for veterans in Monte Vista. A fire and safety inspection last September, found several problems, including a lack of working fire sprinklers and alarm systems. link

Nurse confesses to setting office building fire
[4/9/2007] - The fire has raised old concerns about mid-rise, atrium-style buildings like the one that burned — because of changing building codes, dozens of those buildings aren't required to have complete sprinkler and alarm systems. more

East Tennessee factory destroyed by fire
[4/9/2007] - A cotton textile factory in East Tennessee caught fire this morning, but there were no injuries. more

Hotel Fire
[4/8/2007] - A late-morning fire Saturday forced the evacuation of a downtown Eau Claire hotel for nearly three hours. "The sprinkler did its job and contained the fire to that one room,” Deputy Chief David Gee said. “Had that not been the case if this had not been a sprinkler building it could have been a much more serious fire." more

Bill would offer loans to install fire sprinklers
[4/8/2007] - SACRAMENTO – Despite recent horrific deaths, California does not require small residential-care facility operators to install fire sprinklers that could spare the lives of elderly and disabled residents. “People do not die in sprinkled homes,” said Samuel Oates, San Diego's fire marshal. link

Explosion At Nuclear Power Plant Remains A Mystery
[4/7/2007] - (KUTV/WCBS) NEW YORK CITY - An explosion and fire at a New York nuclear power plant was handled safely and at no time put the general public in danger, authorities said Saturday. link

Sprinkler System Saves Apartment Building in Fire
[4/6/2007] - Rockford fire crews say a fire Thursday could have destroyed an apartment building, but it was saved thanks to a sprinkler system. more

Home sprinkler systems are a safer option
[4/6/2007] - I am writing in regard to the house fire that injured and eventually claimed the life of the young girl from Salisbury Township. Howeowners need to realize there is something that can be done to limit and even eliminate such terrible losses. The answer is the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems. more

Fire Breaks Out At South Sacramento Business
[4/5/2007] - A smoke detector and sprinklers helped limit damage from a fire that broke out Thursday morning at a south Sacramento business, fire officials said. The blaze broke out shortly after 2 a.m. at AmeriPride Uniform Services on Wilbur Way. more

Fire Marshal Wants Sprinkler Requirement for New Kent Homes
[4/5/2007] - DOVER  (AP)- Delaware State Fire Marshal Willard Preston wants Kent County to look at requiring automatic sprinkler systems in new homes built in the county's unincorporated areas. more

Fireproofing the dorms
[4/5/2007] - Coinciding with what a national watchdog group is calling the deadliest year on record for fires at colleges across the country, University of Michigan residence halls are in the midst of extensive fire safety reforms. According to Campus Firewatch, a monthly newsletter published by Ed Comeau, former director of the Center for Campus Fire Safety, 19 deaths have been caused by fires on or near college campuses since Aug. 1. link

Fire fears turned reality
[4/4/2007] - BELLEFONTE -- Investigators have begun piecing together what caused a fire that swept through a historic Bellefonte bed and breakfast Monday night. link

Sprinklers Save Lives
[4/4/2007] - Assistant Chief Stephen Leinoff of the Hartford Fire Department shows off two types of sprinkler heads at the station in White River Junction. For some new home construction projects in town, the systems are a must. more

Fire breaks out in basement apartment
[4/4/2007] - An early-morning fire forces residents out of their Albany apartment. more

Fire Near Viroqua
[4/4/2007] - For a firefighter- fighting fires is normal- but not when it's in your own house. Today a retired Fire Chief living outside Viroqua had to do just that, he put years of training into use when his family and home needed it most more

No vote on sprinklers yet
[4/3/2007] - LONG BEACH - Council members of the Public Safety Committee, acting against the request of city fire officials, unanimously approved delaying a vote Tuesday to implement more stringent fire sprinkler laws for commercial and residential buildings. The issue comes days after a Long Beach man died in a high-rise blaze at the Galaxy Tower that fire officials have said could have been prevented with fire sprinklers. link

100 firefighters help extinguish fire at foam board plant in Bozrah
[4/3/2007] - BOZRAH — Nearly 100 firefighters from 15 fire departments were at the scene this morning of a fire at a foam board manufacturing plant. Fire crews were first calld to the Gilman Brothers Company on Thomas Road in Bozrah at 2:48 a.m. where they encountered dense black smoke. link

Sprinkler debate ready to reignite
[4/2/2007] - MENLO PARK — Menlo Park Fire District leaders are pushing the city to finally adopt a sprinkler ordinance for new houses. District Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman noted that Menlo Park has yet to establish sprinkler requirements like neighboring Atherton and East Palo Alto. "I don't think it's going to be a hard sell," Schapelhouman said Thursday. "I don't think we need a whole debate. Menlo Park is behind the two other cities." link

Atriums' style raised fears years before blaze
[4/1/2007] - City officials worried three decades ago about the fire susceptibility of atrium-style office buildings like the one destroyed last week in a deadly blaze. The concern then was that the novel doughnut design — with office suites opening onto balconies overlooking a multistory, spacious interior center — could allow blazes to spread unimpeded from floor to floor. link

Inferno on the 18th floor
[4/1/2007] - Without sprinklers, death in a high-rise becomes more likely. With the images of flames spurting through the 18th-floor windows of the Galaxy Tower still raw in his memory, it's a wonder the Long Beach firefighter's language wasn't blunter. If the apartment had been equipped with sprinklers, he told a reporter, there would have been a chance for its resident, John Crews, to survive. link