Sprinkler Extinguishes Fire at Coventry Village Retirement Community

Sprinkler Extinguishes Fire at Coventry Village Retirement Community A single sprinkler head extinguished a fire at Coventry Village Retirement Community, Thursday evening. At 9:21 PM Paramedics Williams and Conner from Station #2, a west side fire station, were dispatched to 7707 North Brookline Drive for an EMS call. While they were evaluating a patient they heard the fire alarm sound. Paramedic Conner went to the fire panel in the lobby to investigate as to why the alarm was sounding, while Paramedic Williams continued to tend to the patient. The patient was not transported. At 10:15 PM, 911 Communications Center was informed by the paramedics of the alarm and dispatched a full fire response. It was found that a sprinkler head was activated on the third floor. Paramedic Conner went to the third floor and noticed smoke in the hallway. He also encountered a staff member who tried to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, but said she was forced back out of the apartment because of the thick smoke. Conner entered Apartment 323 in full fire gear to search for any occupants, but did not find anyone. It was later established that the occupant was removed from the apartment by the staff member prior to the arrival of firefighters. Firefighters did a good job assisting many of the residents evacuate. Crews ventilated the building and also covered many personal items with salvage covers. No one was injured. The fire caused $35,000 in damage and is under investigation. Everyone was allowed back into the building. Three resident rooms that were affected by the fire were able to stay in other apartments. This is an excellent example of how sprinklers can react quickly to save lives and reduce property damage. Sprinklers Save Lives! Sprinkler systems are designed to reduce the damage to property from water, smoke and fire. Fire sprinkler systems have been around for more than two centuries and have seen significant improvements over the years. It's true that early versions weren't very reliable and caused significant water damage. But today, sprinkler systems are credited with reducing deaths and loss of property by more than 65 percent source: Fleming. Since each sprinkler head is automatically triggered by fire-specific temperature, just one or two sprinklers can quickly extinguish and/or contain a fire to the room where it started and cause little property damage. And because sprinklers use about six times less water than a fire hose, they're actually less harmful to your property.