NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 67

building, which was unoccupied and
closed for the weekend.
Investigators determined that,
earlier in the day, workers at the site
had placed a cardboard box on an
electrical stove while doing work in
the kitchen, inadvertently turning on
a burner in the process. Heat from the
stove eventually ignited the box, and
the fire activated the sprinkler system
sometime after the workers had left
the building.
The building was of wood construction with a concrete slab floor and a
wood roof deck covered with asphalt
shingles. The single-story structure
occupied a ground-floor area of 5,263
feet (489 square meters).
Losses from the fire were estimated
at $4,000.

Assembly
FLORIDA
Sprinkler contains fire caused by
clothes dryer malfunction
Firefighters were dispatched to a
lounge fire after occupants noticed
smoke and called 911. At approximately the same time, the fire
department was also receiving notification from an alarm monitoring
company that the facility's sprinkler
system had activated.
Arriving crews observed light smoke
showing from the front of the building. All occupants had evacuated the
building. Inside, crews found that
the automatic sprinkler system had
activated in a storage room and successfully contained the fire to a clothes
dryer. Crews completed extinguishment and shut off the water flow from
the sprinkler head. Crews ventilated
smoke from the building before clearing the scene.
Investigators determined that towels
had ignited inside a clothes dryer
due to an unspecified equipment
malfunction.
The lounge was protected by a wetpipe sprinkler system, with full-facility
coverage. One sprinkler head opened in
response to the fire.

The lounge was a single-story structure occupying a ground-floor area of
10,000 square feet (929 square meters).
The building was constructed with a
concrete block exterior and wood interior, wood roof framing and deck, and
asphalt shingles.
The fire caused no damage to the
structure, valued at $850,000. Damage
to the contents, valued at $637,000, was
estimated at $2,000.

Fire Station
VERMONT
Electrical fault in pumper
blamed for fire that damages
fire department
A call to 911 from a passing motorist
shortly after 6 a.m. alerted volunteer
firefighters to a fire at their own fire
station.
Firefighters who first reached the
scene reported heavy fire in the truck
bay in the station's west end, with fire
breaching the door and fire showing on the roof. All turnout gear and
equipment were in the building, but
crews were unable to make entry due
to the extreme heat.
According to news reports, firefighters arrived with the department's
only remaining truck to begin attacking the fire, and were soon joined by
firefighters from several mutual aid
companies. Crews were able to bring
the fire under control at approximately
11:15 a.m.
Investigators determined that the fire
started in the engine compartment of
a rescue pumper when plastic material
was ignited by a suspected electrical
fault, then spread through the cab and
extended beyond the vehicle.
The fire station was constructed of
steel, with concrete and brick walls, a
steel roof frame, and a metal roof deck
with a rubber membrane. It occupied
a ground-floor area of 3,000 square
feet (279 square meters).
The fire caused an estimated
$850,000 in damage to the station's
contents and $850,000 in damage to
the structure.
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2017
