Inspector credits sprinkler with saving life

Inspector credits sprinkler with saving life
By The Whig-Standard
Posted 2 hours ago
An automatic sprinkler head is credited for limiting the damage at a Park Street high-rise apartment early Wednesday morning.

Kingston Fire and Rescue responded to the fire that started on a stovetop in a 10th-floor unit. The smoke alarm in the suite had been disabled prior to the fire, but the sprinkler limited damage in the apartment to less than $1,000.

"Without a working smoke alarm, the occupant of this apartment is fortunate to be alive today," Kingston fire inspector Del Blakney said in a news release.

Fire code charges for disabling the smoke alarm are pending.

Water flow from the sprinkler extinguished the fire and sounded the building alarm, alerting other occupants.

Blakney said a similar stovetop fire three years ago on Regent Street apartment that did not have an automatic sprinkler head caused $80,000 in damage and killed a family pet.

Last week, an automatic sprinkler head put out a fire in an underground parking garage. In June, fire officials credited a sprinkler for putting out a fire at a linen supply business. In that case damage was limited to $250.

— The Whig-Standard