Yuma, Arizona - Today, just after 3:00 pm, a stove was reported to be on fire inside an apartment at the La Posada Apartments, 1900 W 30th Street. Arriving YFD firefighters made entry into a first story apartment, and found a fire sprinkler head in the kitchen had extinguished a fire that started on the stove top. The sprinkler head was shut down by YFD personnel who also confirmed the fire was extinguished and had not spread. Firefighters worked quickly to vent the heat/smoke from the fire and remove the water that had been released during the activation.
It was determined that 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. A resident also acted quickly to retrieve a fire extinguisher mounted just outside the apartment, but the sprinkler had already knocked down the fire.
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.
This is at least the 4th fire sprinkler save in the last month. Sprinkler systems save lives and protect property.