Sprinkler system douses apartment fire
A pan of oil heating on the stove sparked fire, YFD says
A sprinkler system prevented a fire that started inside an apartment from spreading to the rest of the building Thursday afternoon, according to a Yuma Fire Department spokesperson.
Mike Erfert said that at about 3 p.m. a stove was reported to be on fire inside one of the apartments at the La Posada Apartment Complex, 1900 W. 30th St.
Once on scene, firefighters made entry into a first-story apartment and found that a fire sprinkler head in the kitchen had extin- guished a fire that started on the stove top.
Firefighters shut down the sprinkler head and made sure the fire was completely out and had not spread. They then worked quickly to vent the heat and smoke from the fire out of the apartment, and remove the water released during the activation.
It was determined a pan of oil heating on the stove had flashed to flame. There were light soot stains on the wall behind the stove and slight heat damage to cabinets above the stove.
One of the residents also attempted to put the fire out by using a fire extinguisher that was mounted just outside the apartment, but the sprinkler had already knocked down the fire.
This is at least the 4th fire sprinkler save in the last month.
Fire sprinkler systems can keep fires from spreading and can also extinguish them. Fire spreads quickly and can double in size every minute. Even small fires can cause significant damage to property and endanger those nearby.
Contrary to many Hollywood portrayals, only sprinkler heads directly exposed to the heat activate, not those in the rest of the room, building or complex.