Thanks to Fire Marshal Kevin Wiley of the River Forest, Illinois Fire Department for sending us this sprinkler save!

The River Forest Fire Department, assisted by Oak Park and Elmwood Park Fire Departments, responded to a fire alarm at Concordia University’s David Jonathan residence hall. While responding, the department was notified of a water-flow alarm for the same building.

Upon entering the basement of the residence hall crews encountered moderate smoke conditions and the sound of the fire sprinkler system that had activated. Once they were able to clear the smoke, they discovered a small refrigerator had caught fire and that a single fire sprinkler had activated directly above the refrigerator and extinguished the fire. Luckily there were no student residents in the building at the time due to the summer break. The sprinkler system was restored after the activated sprinkler was replaced.

How many sprinklers activated: 1
Estimated amount of money saved: $10-12 million

“The sprinkler system and fire alarm did the job they were designed for. We were lucky the residence hall was unoccupied for the summer and can only imagine what would have happened if the fire occurred two months earlier with a building full of students residents.” -FM Kevin Wiley, River Forest Fire Department.