When crews arrived at the scene, they found smoke visible from the exterior of the dust collector. Fire companies entered the facility and confirmed that a fire had been extinguished by the sprinkler system.
There was no extension of the fire to any other part of the structure.
There were no reported injuries to We Energies employees or fire personnel. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
Firefighters extinguished a fire at the Mercy North Auburn at Rock Creek complex on Sunday night.
CAL FIRE/Placer County firefighters responded to the multifamily structure on First Street before 9 p.m. According to CAL FIRE, first arriving personnel reported smoke showing from the third floor of the three-story complex.
Placer County Sheriff’s deputies evacuated 10 adjacent apartments on both sides of the fire. CAL FIRE reported the affected unit was fully charged with smoke, with a fire in the back corner and an active fire sprinkler.
“The modern building construction and sprinkler systems held the fire in check for the short time prior to firefighters extinguishing the fire,” CAL FIRE reported on its Facebook on Monday afternoon.
CAL FIRE confirmed the fire was extinguished 10 minutes after dispatch and three apartments sustained major fire and water damage. CAL FIRE also replaced the sprinkler and recharged the system.
There were no injuries due to the fire. The cause remains under investigation.
Mercy North Auburn at Rock Creek is a community of 79 homes for low-income and special-needs families. Located on 3 acres of county-owned property on First Street at the Placer County Government Center, Mercy North Auburn at Rock Creek includes 32 two-bedroom apartments, 25 three-bedroom apartments and 22 one-bedroom apartments.
Residents began moving in Jan. 24, 2022, and a ceremony was held in mid May 2022, which included a ribbon cutting and speeches with several area officials attending.
Doug Shoemaker, president of Mercy Housing California, said that day all 79 homes were occupied by working people and about 20 others who were homeless at one time. They were to pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. A few residents stood outside their new homes watching the ceremony.
The Central Fire Department posted pictures of the fire’s aftermath Sunday. Officials said the operational sprinkler system inside the store prevented the fire from spreading, and the scene was under control shortly after the firefighters’ arrival.
There was no immediate known cause of the fire, but the CFD encouraged anyone with information about the fire to contact the Baton Rouge Fire Department.
No one was injured following a fire Monday evening in a Leila North condo building.
The fire broke out just after 8 p.m. in a four-storey condo building in the 1200 block of Leila Avenue.
The condo’s sprinkler system knocked out most of the fire before crews arrived. Firefighters finished putting out the fire and it was declared under control about an hour later.
Residents took shelter in the lobby while crews put the fire out. No one was injured.
It’s believed the fire was accidental, related to lithium-ion batteries.
Battalion Chief Brian Harryman of the Berkeley Fire Department credited the Hope Center’s fire sprinkler system with putting out the blaze before it spread.
“It probably saved the whole building,” he said.
The Hope Center, which opened in 2022 on the site of a former city parking lot, has 53 supportive housing units while Berkeley Way Apartments, part of the same complex, has 89 affordable units and services for low-income families.
Firefighters were dispatched to the Hope Center, at 2012 Berkeley Way, just before 8:30 p.m. Monday for a report of smoke on the third floor.
“We’re getting reports of somebody blowing up their room, unknown what that means,” a dispatcher told the Berkeley Fire Department as the call came in.
Thanks to proximity, Berkeley firefighters arrived at the Hope Center in under a minute, Harryman said: BFD’s Station 2 is just across the street about 100 feet away.
Inside the apartment, firefighters found scooters and lithium-ion batteries that had been charging unattended.
The fire was out quickly thanks to the sprinkler system, but the water caused “considerable damage” to the apartment where the batteries were charging.
Several adjacent units saw minimal damage due to water that got in beneath the doors.
Firefighters had to manually turn off the sprinklers to control the flow.
“There’s a considerable amount of water damage,” a firefighter said over the radio just before 8:40 p.m., adding: “We’re going to need squeegees and manpower.”
All of the residents were able to return to their rooms aside from the unit where the fire happened.
Fortunately, Harryman said, a friend in the building offered that resident a place to stay.
“We checked around and all the shelters were full. All the hotels were full,” he said. “We really didn’t have a place to send him.”
Harryman noted that some of the scooter rental companies pay people to charge lithium-ion batteries for them. But he said he did not know if that had been the case on Berkeley Way.
BFD strongly discourages anyone from charging lithium-ion batteries inside their homes, he added. Even outside, they should not be left unattended.
“Don’t plug them in and leave for the day or leave them for the weekend,” he said. “These things are overcharging, heating up and causing fires. If you are going to charge it, remain home with it and don’t charge it inside.”
Last year, the city of Berkeley announced in June that six recent fires had been caused by unattended lithium battery charging.
“These local battery fires — involving e-skateboards, e-scooters, and at least one e-bike — have also been seen around the region and nation,” the city wrote.
The city also noted that fires could “occur spontaneously while charging” and advised anyone noticing signs of fire, such as smoke, gas and sparks, to evacuate the area and immediately call 911.
Learn more from the city of Berkeley about fire risks related to lithium-ion batteries.
Just before 8 p.m. Sunday, the department was called to the store and found it had been evacuated. They were told the fire broke out in the middle of the building and “many sprinkler heads had been activated.”
Crews were able to find the fire and put it out within minutes, the department said. No one was injured.
The fire, smoke and sprinklers caused enough damage to close the store indefinitely, the department said.
When crews arrived to the scene, they found smoke coming from the structure. The fire was quickly brought under control, having been contained by the building’s sprinkler system.
There were no occupants in the building at the time of the fire. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The building sustained smoke, fire, and water damage. Damage estimates are not available at this time.
Fire crews responded to a fire at a Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
The fire broke out around 8:30 p.m. at the hotel on Park Place, near 107th and Good Hope.
Fire crews said the fire was on the first floor. The hotel’s sprinkler system put out the flames.
Crews said no injuries were reported.
The fire was reported shortly after 7:10 p.m. at the building on 14th Street near Commercial Street in a fourth-floor apartment, a San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson said. Because of the size of the building, the fire went to a third alarm, which summoned more resources to help.
When firefighters arrived, they helped evacuate the building but they didn’t have to put out the fire. That was taken care of by the building’s sprinkler system. The sprinklers also caused extensive water damage to 14 units on the third floor and two common areas, fire officials said.
It was estimated the fire and sprinkler system caused $150,000 in damage.
Fifteen people were displaced and assisted by property management. It was determined that Red Cross assistance wasn’t needed.
One person was evaluated for smoke inhalation but did not require medical treatment.
The fire was determined to be accidental. The battery was for an e-bike and was on a charger connected to an electrical outlet when it sparked the fire.
A HAZMAT team responded to handle the battery mitigation and air monitoring, the department said.
