Yuma, Arizona - On Tuesday, just before 10:00 am, a fire was reported inside an apartment at the La Posada Apartments, 1900 W 30th Street. Arriving YFD firefighters made entry into a second 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 apartment and remove the water that had been released during the activation.
It was determined that an unattended pan of oil heating on the stove had flashed to flame. Most house fires start in the kitchen and the stove top is the most common place for these fires to start. Due to the sprinkler system quickly extinguishing this fire, the fire damage was limited to soot stains on the wall behind the stove and heat damage to hood above the stove.
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.