Business was interrupted at The Bay when a rack of burning merchandise triggered the store's sprinkler system and scrambled firefighters to Woodgrove Centre Thursday.

Firefighters were called out at about 2:30 p.m. after someone had apparently set a rack of clothes on fire near one wall on the south side of the store.

"The store has pretty high ceilings and the flames were high enough to trigger the sprinkler system," said Capt. Ennis Mond, Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officer.

Mond said store employees pulled the rack away from the wall and snuffed the flames out with two fire extinguishers.

Two female employees injured their hands breaking the glass covering a fire alarm pull station, but Mond said he did not know the extent of their injuries.

No other injuries were reported.

"All appearances are that somebody went in there and lit the rack on fire," Mond said.

The investigation has been turned over to the RCMP.

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RCMP probing fire at The Bay

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI -- A space heater used by a work crew likely was the cause of a Friday fire that caused massive damage to Fifth Third Ballpark, and fire officials believe the automatic sprinkler system was deactivated earlier in the day because of a false alarm.

Plainfield Township Fire Chief David Peterson said there was a false alarm at about 5 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, and that the system was shut down at that time.

Several hours later, Peterson said, a work crew was in a stadium suite using a space heater that started a small fire. The workers believed they had extinguished those flames and left the area, Peterson said.

About 11 a.m., the workers returned to find the area -- on the first base side of home plate -- in flames. A fire alarm was sounding, the chief said.

Peterson said he did not believe the suppression system worked properly during the fire.

The fire destroyed up to 12 suites on the first base side of the field, and Peterson estimated the damage at up to $500,000. Firefighters were able to stop the blaze from spreading to the third base size.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison

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Fifth Third Ballpark fire sparked by space heater, sprinkler system possibly off, fire chief says

Boca Raton Sprinkler system repairs
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Phoenix AZ Sprinkler System
Phoenix Sprinkler System http://www.sergioslandscaping.net/ We Specialize in Rock and Sod Installation, Fertilizing, Weed Control, Winterization, Tree Prunin...

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Lono Puts Sprinkler System Control on Your Smart Device
Lono is an automatic smart sprinkler control system that replaces most current dial and switch manual control boxes and can cut water usage by twenty to seve...

By: Terry Knight

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Lono Puts Sprinkler System Control on Your Smart Device - Video

Home Sprinkler Systems: Preparing Your Sprinkler System for Winter by M. Higgins and C. Swift 1 (1/09) Quick Facts.... Prepare your sprinkler system for winter by expelling all the water from the irrigation system and equipment. Do not trust manual or automatic drain valves. The system should be blown out with pressurized air. To determine the best sized compressor for your system, know the gallons per minute (GPM) that flow through each zone. If your irrigation system is attached to domestic water, it is required to have a backflow prevention device.

The concept of preparing your sprinkler system for winter must be done correctly to assure there are no costly repairs and replacements to make in the spring at system start-up. The process consists of expelling all the water from the irrigation system and equipment. This is necessary because water freezing in the irrigation system will break pipes, fittings, valves, sprinklers, pumps, and other system components.

Most substances contract as they get cold; however, when water cools, it contracts only until it reaches a temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon further cooling to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, water expands as it turns to ice. Water expands and increases in volume by one-eleventh, so 11 cubic feet of water will form approximately 12 cubic feet of ice. This expansion force is sufficient to cause pipes and fittings to burst valves to crack, and sprinkler and pump cases to split open.

Draining the system may be accomplished by the use of either manual or automatic drain valves which rely on gravity to purge water from the system. These valves rely on a properly-installed system laid to grade with no humps in the pipe to trap water in low areas. This method is not recommended since sub-surface pipes have a tendency to shift with time and there is no way to visually inspect lines once draining is complete. The only positive way to be sure enough water has been expelled from the system is by using compressed air to blow the water out.

Systems with electric valves must be blown out with pressurized air. There is no other way to drain the water off the top of the diaphragm of the valve.

Air volume is as critical as air pressure. If an insufficient volume of air is used, after forcing some water out, the air will ride over the top of the water. This will result in the remaining water draining into low spots and subjecting the system to freeze damage. Ideal pressures are in the range of 40 to 80 pounds per square inch (psi) for the air compressor with 80 psi being the maximum for rigid PVC pipe and 50 psi for polyethylene pipe (flexible black pipe). Set the pressure regulator on the air compressor accordingly. If the pressure is in excess of what the nozzles are rated, the excessive pressure will blow the sprinkler nozzles off and could cause other damage. The rating of the nozzles is available at the manufacturers home web page.

Rule of thumb: If the sprinkler heads stay up after the water is blown out and compressed air continues to flow through the system, you are using the right size compressor.

The idea is to "blow" your system out using only the volume of air necessary. If you normally run one zone at a time when irrigating, the system should blow out the same way. If you try to do more, the excess velocity of flow and added friction will heat up the pipe and fittings to a point where they could possibly melt. If the pipe and fittings do not burst during this operation, they could be damaged and reduce their life.

To figure out the best sized compressor for the system you need to know the gallons per minute (GPM) that flow through each zone in the system. When the system was designed it should have had a GPM rating for each zone marked on the irrigation plan. If this information is not available, a quick estimate of GPM per zone can be made by adding up the GPM rating for each sprinkler head nozzle on the zone. GPM data is available on the manufacturers web site.

Divide GPM by 7.5 to determine the cubic feet per minute (CFM) needed. This is the ideal sized compressor to blow out your system.

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Home Sprinkler Systems:Preparing Your Sprinkler System for Winter

Article updated: 12/26/2013 10:45 PM

An apartment sprinkler system extinguished a cooking fire Thursday afternoon in Glendale Heights and likely helped save two dogs, authorities said.

Firefighters were called to a three-story apartment building on the 1800 block of Somerset Drive at 3:05 p.m. and found that the in-unit sprinkler system effectively put out the fire, according to Batallion Chief Richard Kurka of the Bloomingdale Fire Protection District.

The homeowner was not there at the time of the fire. Kurka said her two dogs likely would have suffered from smoke inhalation had there not been sprinklers in the apartment.

No injuries were reported.

The apartment sustained water damage due to the sprinklers, and will likely be uninhabitable for a few days, Kurka said.

Two other apartments below also sustained water damage; they were unable to be occupied Thursday night, but they probably will be on Friday after they dry out and the electrical systems are checked, Kurka said.

Fire departments from Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Glenside, Itasca, Roselle and Wheaton assisted in the response. Crews left the scene at 5:30 p.m.

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Sprinkler system puts out Glendale Hts. fire

BLOOMINGTON A fire sprinkler system is being credited with extinguishing a Christmas Eve fire even before firefighters arrived.

Bloomington Fire Department Public Information Officer Brad McCollum said that at 7:43 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters responded to the third floor of The Downtowner, a 36-unit, eight-story, assisted-living apartment building at 109 E. Market St., and found the apartments resident in a hallway that was filled with light smoke.

Upon entering the apartment, they found an overstuffed chair and end table that had sustained damage from a fire that had been completely extinguished by the sprinkler system, McCollum said in a news release.

The resident was transported to the hospital as a precaution, he said.

McCollum said the outcome could have been tragic for the resident if not for the effectiveness of the sprinkler system. The fire could also have been devastating to other residents and the buildings owners, he added.

The capability of a properly installed and maintained fire sprinkler system to contain the spread of fire and in many cases such as this, extinguish the blaze before first responders even arrive on the scene is the reason that so many important structures have these life- and property-saving systems, he said. Apartment buildings like The Downtowner are not the only types of structures that can and do benefit from these systems. Places of worship, places of business, and most importantly the places that you call home can all be protected by a fire sprinkler system. I encourage you all to learn how to protect yourself, your loved ones and your community from the ravages of fire.

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Sprinklers praised for halting Downtowner fire

December 26, 2013 Updated Dec 26, 2013 at 6:47 PM CST

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- A potentially fatal fire in an apartment complex on Christmas Eve was stopped before any major damage was done.

"It could have been worse with my son and me in there," said Bloomington resident, Linda Mabry. "I am just thanking god that it wasn't and that I have my life."

Dozens of residents in the Bloomington Downtowner assisted living apartments had the same reaction after the fire sprinkler system went off on Christmas Eve night.

Authorities said a fire started in a third floor apartment after a cigarette fell into a chair

Firefighters said a small fire like this could engulf an entire room in just two minutes, but the apartment's fire sprinkler system extinguished it before they even reached the scene.

"The biggest thing you have to worry about when we have fires like this is the spread of smoke which is very black, thick, and toxic smoke that has poisonous gas in it," said Bloomington Fire Captain and Public Information Officer, Brad McCollum. "When our crews arrived on scene with just light smoke, it was attributed to that sprinkler system."

Fire sprinkler systems are required for newly built apartments in Bloomington, and for home owners, fire officials highly recommend them.

McCollum says seven out of ten people die from the toxic smoke in a house fire.

He added that if the apartment was not equipped with the system, there could have been several deaths.

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Sprinkler system saves residents from fire in Bloomington apartment

Subcontractors working for JE Dunn Construction were busy Thursday replacing drywall damaged by a sprinkler malfunction at the Statehouse, but that didn't stop Shantel Gibson and her family from making their way through the nearly completed visitor center.

Small children bounced anxiously as Gibson and her kin made their way through a security checkpoint, undeterred by the construction and repair noise.

"I think it's up to par for visitation," Gibson later said in the first-floor rotunda, which is decorated with a Christmas tree that reaches nearly to the second floor.

Statehouse architect Barry Greis and JE Dunn project manager Jim Rinner agree, despite the hiccup with the sprinkler system that caused a robust Topeka Fire Department response on Christmas Eve.

Both said the cleanup effort is moving speedily and the visitor center should be complete by the end of the month and ready for its opening ceremonies Jan. 2, 2014.

"We're still on track," Rinner said.

Rinner said a substantial amount of water poured from the faulty sprinkler system, but the fire department did a stellar job of containing the damage and workers were planning to pull up protective floor coverings soon anyway.

Operationally, the only damage yet to be addressed is to the two elevators that shuttle Statehouse workers and visitors from the underground parking garage. They remain nonfunctioning, which eliminates the garage's handicapped accessibility.

Kansans with ambulatory disabilities will still be able to access the Statehouse by parking at street level.

Greis said maintenance contractor Interstate Elevator has been out to assess the damage, but there is no estimate on when the elevators will be working again.

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Statehouse leak contained, renovation back on track