Fire Dept says sprinklers helped douse Athens apartment fire

The Athens-Clarke County Fire Department says a man found unconscious in a burning residence was rescued by firefighters: the blaze burned an apartment on Summerbrook Circle in Athens. The man was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. Food burning on an unattended stove appears to have started the fire. 
From the Athens-Clarke Co Fire Dept…

On March 1, 2020 at approximately 10:23 p.m., crews from the Athens-Clarke County Fire & Emergency Services Department responded to a fire alarm activation at 501 Summerbrook Circle. The first units arrived on scene at 10:28 p.m. to find water flowing through the bottom of the front door to the apartment. They could also see through the windows that smoke had banked down from the ceiling and had filled the apartment. The firefighters feverishly knocked on the door to the apartment to see if a resident would answer, but to no avail. At this point, the crew forced entry into the apartment.

When inside, the firefighters encountered heavy smoke conditions and could see that a sprinkler head was actively flowing water. They rapidly searched the apartment for residents and found a man lying unconscious on a bed. He was quickly brought out of the apartment and turned over to other firefighting crews on scene that treated him for smoke inhalation and prepared him for transport to a local hospital by National EMS. No other occupants were located inside the apartment. As crews searched for the source of the fire, they saw that the stove was on and it appeared that food had burned and caught the cabinetry above the stove on fire. The sprinkler above the stove had extinguished the fire. Crews were able to place wedges into the sprinkler to stop the water flow. Then, they proceeded to assist maintenance with cleanup efforts.

“We would like for the community to know that the positive outcome of this fire had a great deal to do with the diligence of the firefighting crews as well as the fire detection and prevention measures that were in place in this residence,” says Lieutenant Nate Moss.

“The fire alarm system notified emergency responders of the fire, the sprinkler put out the fire, and our firefighters made the search and treatment for the resident its top priority. This emphasizes the need that no shortcuts should ever be taken when it comes to protecting lives and property. That speaks for our firefighting equipment, our training, the installation and maintenance of fire protection systems, and adherence to fire and life safety codes.” said Moss.

Athens-Clarke County Fire & Emergency Services encourages the community to make sure that all of the fire protection systems that are currently in place in residences and businesses in our community are properly maintained, in date, and are tested according to manufacturer recommendations. For more information, please visit the U.S. Fire Administration’s fire protection technology page at: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/technology/