One Sprinkler Saves Entire Aberdeen Apartment
June 22, 2007: At 14:59hrs the Aberdeen Fire Department was alerted to respond to 113 and 115 Hanover Street off of Post Road in the Washington Park Apartments complex for an automatic fire alarm sounding. At 15:04hrs Engine 215 arrived and initially reported nothing evident from the outside of a 3-story 12-unit apartment building. Upon entering the building a maintenance man reported to the engine crew that there was a fire in apartment "D" on the second floor. At 15:07hrs Command upgraded the call to a building fire which automatically filled the box assignment alerting units from the APG Federal Fire Department and Susquehanna Hose Company (Havre de Grace). The engine crew immediately extended a hose line into the building and proceeded up to Apartment "D" where they encountered smoke throughout the apartment. Upon further search of the apartment, they discovered a fire that had been extinguished by operation of a single fire sprinkler. According to firefighters, an iron had been placed on the second shelf of a three shelf bookcase and caught the bookcase on fire. Except for some smoldering, the fire was completely extinguished by the sprinkler. At 15:09hrs Command held the assignment to Engine 215 and Tower 231 and all other responding units were cancelled. These two units cleared the scene at 15:41hrs.
When the single sprinkler head nearest the fire operated it automatically activated the building fire alarm systems and notified the alarm monitoring company who, in turn, called 911 to report the automatic alarm. Under the circumstances, if the building did not have a sprinkler system installed and operating, it is estimated that by the time the fire would have been discovered it would have at least involved the apartment of origin on the second floor as well as the apartment above.
This incident could easily have escalated into another multi-alarm fire similar to the one that occurred in the same apartment complex on March 2, 2007 during these renovations. An apartment building on Hamilton Place suffered a devastating 3 alarm fire that caused over $300,000 in damage and was handled by over 80 firefighters from Aberdeen, APG, Susquehanna Hose, and Level. The fire was placed under control within 20 minutes however these resources were on the scene for over 3 hours. In that fire, the building was almost finished a complete renovation except that the sprinkler system had not been turned on yet. The fire started accidentally by a heater left on to dry some drywall in a space used for the HVAC system in a vacant apartment and spread to apartments above and adjacent. Today on Hanover Street a total of seven firefighters handled the call and cleared the scene in just over ½ hour. Fire damage was estimated at about $500 along with some minor water damage which was quickly cleaned up. The occupant of the apartment was not home at the time of the fire.
The entire Washington Park Apartment complex is currently under extensive renovations. When the renovation project was presented for approval by the City of Aberdeen, the City Planning and Zoning Commission required the buildings to be retro-fitted with a complete residential fire sprinkler system because of the extensive scope of the work and their concern about the fire safety of the residents. This was also the recommendation of the Aberdeen Fire Department that regularly reviews plans for all new and renovation projects of this nature in cooperation with the planning board. This recommendation was also made in consideration that Maryland law required such systems in all new construction built after July 1990. The planning commission on advice of the fire department decided to make this a condition for their approval of this particular project and other similar projects for the future.
The Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association is 100% behind efforts to mandate installation of residential fire sprinkler systems in all new single family home construction in Harford County. Currently the City of Aberdeen and the City of Havre de Grace are the only two jurisdictions in Harford County that have recognized the life safety importance of fire sprinklers in the single family home. As just mentioned fire sprinkler systems in apartment complexes and townhouses are already a requirement.
These two fires are clear evidence that fire sprinklers work. Sprinklers allow occupants time to escape and they reduce or even eliminate fire growth making the firefighter’s job much safer. In addition the number of firefighters and equipment needed at the scene is reduced making them available for other emergencies that may occur. Less time on the scene equals a quicker response to your call for help!
FOR FURTHER MEDIA INQUIRES PLEASE CONTACT: RICH GARDINER, SPOKESPERSON, HARFORD COUNTY VOLUNTEER FIRE AND EMS ASSOCIATION @ 410-977-0587
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