Sprinkler System Prevents Major Damage
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Water from a single fire sprinkler controlled a bedroom fire in the Tower Apartments at Oakwood Village West Monday night. Damage was minimal and one person was transported to the hospital for a minor injury.
Madison Firefighters were dispatched to 6209 Mineral Point Road for a structure fire at 8:31 pm. Ladder 2 arrived less than four minutes later. They observed some water dripping down the outside of the building, but saw no sign of fire or smoke. The fire alarms in the building were sounding and the residents were evacuating.
Firefighters began checking the building and found smoke in the hallway of the 13th floor. A 2nd alarm was requested, bringing additional firefighters and equipment to the scene for search and rescue as well as firefighting tasks. Nearly 100 older adults live in the 15 story high-rise apartment building.
A search of the 13th floor revealed a small fire in a bedroom that activated the sprinkler system. As soon as they had the fire extinguished, firefighters turned off the water supplying the sprinkler system. Other crews checked to make sure everyone was safely out of the area and began opening windows to remove smoke from the building.
The sprinkler system and fire alarm system were both placed back in service less than three hours after the fire started. Due to the minimal fire damage, most of the residents were able to return to their apartments less than two hours after the fire.
The fire remains under investigation, but fire investigators stated that it is an accidental fire.
Facts about home fire sprinklers
- If you have a reported fire in your home, the risk of dying decreases by about 80 percent when sprinklers are present.
- People in homes with sprinklers are protected against significant property loss—sprinklers reduce the average property loss by about 70% per fire.
- Home sprinkler systems respond quickly to reduce the heat, flames, and smoke from a fire, giving families valuable time to get to safety.
- Roughly 85 percent of the time, just one sprinkler operates.
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