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A kitchen fire activated a sprinkler system in a multifamily, four-story residence on Thursday, causing significant water damage in three units but no reported injuries, according to the Mountain View Fire Department.
Mountain View dispatchers received a 911 call on Aug. 31 at 9:16 p.m. from a fire alarm company reporting a sprinkler activation at the 1700 block of W. El Camino Real. Firefighters arrived on the scene five minutes later and found that the sprinkler system had been activated by the heat and smoke from a cooking fire in the kitchen of an apartment unit on the third floor, according to the statement.
The residents in the affected apartment and those below the unit had evacuated the building by the time the fire crew arrived. Firefighters shut off the water from the sprinkler system and confirmed that the fire was fully extinguished. They also began operations removing water from three affected units, the fire department said.
Two people living below the unit where the fire ignited elected to stay in hotel overnight and received a $250 gift card from the California Professional Firefighters Union Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergency Program. The residents from the two other water damaged units chose to stay in their apartments, the fire department said.
The cause of fire was determined as accidental, and the estimated damage to the contents and structure of the apartment units was $150,000, according to the statement.
Add to that the untold stories when sprinkler systems are accidentally triggered, and you have to wonder if they do more harm than good.
@ML, Not according to the research on loss-of-life and overall cost of an out of control multi-family building fire! Maybe it ‘might be good’ to ask the Fire Department Chief – or your local fire-insurance broker: sprinklers-or not?
I believe the Fire Code now requires such fire suppression systems on all NEW single family residential builds. (the tech is now Much Lower Cost to install).
PS The Division of the State Architect (DSA) enforces the educational building code that Requires such sprinklers on all new schools with a state contribution. Although such buildings without sprinklers, when occupied, do not have a large loss-of-life record, the loss of “business continuity” [classroom environments destroyed] can make it very disruptive for learning.
Trace Elementary Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report (fire loss)
https://www.scscourt.org/court_divisions/civil/cgj/2011/Trace%20Elementary%20School%20-%20Rising%20From%20the%20Ashes.pdf