The back half of August brought another run of apartment kitchen fires from coast to coast. Here’s a look at seven recent incidents.
Suffolk, Virginia — August 16
Two people were displaced following a kitchen fire in the 200 block of Columbus Avenue in Suffolk on Saturday afternoon, according to Fire and Rescue officials. Crews responded and contained the fire, and no injuries were reported. The two displaced residents were assisted following the blaze.
Stuart, Florida — August 16
Martin County Fire Rescue and Stuart Fire Rescue crews responded to The Sovana at Stuart 55+ apartment community in the 1900 block of Northwest US 1 shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday after a fire started inside an apartment near a resident’s stove. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze and contained it to the single apartment where it started. No injuries were reported.
Durham, North Carolina — August 18
Nearly 40 firefighters responded to a cooking fire at a Durham apartment, according to officials. Crews worked to contain the fire and keep it from spreading through the building. One person was displaced. No injuries were reported.
San Rafael, California — August 18
Firefighters were dispatched around 1:07 p.m. to a five-unit apartment building at 16 Elaine Way, where they found a fire burning in the kitchen of one of the units. Investigators determined the fire started on the stove before spreading to other parts of the kitchen. The four occupants had safely evacuated, but their dog was left behind in the rush. Firefighters entered the building, found the dog unharmed, and reunited it with its owners. The kitchen sustained substantial damage and thick smoke left the unit temporarily uninhabitable. The four displaced residents were assisted by the American Red Cross. No injuries were reported.
Bluffton, South Carolina — August 18
Firefighters were called to Bluestone Apartments on Bluffton Parkway shortly before 7:30 a.m. after a sprinkler water flow alarm. Crews arrived to find a kitchen fire in a first-floor apartment, but the building’s sprinkler system had already activated and extinguished the flames before they could spread to neighboring units. The apartment’s residents escaped safely and no other units were affected. Investigators believe the blaze began as a cooking fire. No injuries were reported.
Hudson, New York — August 18
Firefighters were dispatched at 9:21 p.m. to 201 Warren Street for a reported structure fire, with a resident still inside trying to get their pets out. Crews arrived to a working fire with heavy smoke and located the blaze in the kitchen at the rear of a second-floor apartment, controlling it within 9 minutes of dispatch. One occupant was treated for smoke inhalation. Two cats were inside during the fire, and one was found dead. The kitchen received heavy fire damage while the rest of the apartment sustained heat and smoke damage.
Petersburg, Virginia — August 19
Petersburg firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the Carriage House apartments just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. A kitchen fire triggered the building’s sprinkler system, causing water damage across multiple units. Six apartments were affected, five of them occupied, and those residents were placed in hotels until repairs could be made. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire remained under investigation. The incident came only a few months after tenants at the same building were forced into hotels when it was deemed uninhabitable.
Seven fires in four days. In Suffolk, a kitchen fire that displaced two. In Stuart, a stove fire in a 55+ community, held to one unit. In Durham, a cooking fire that pulled nearly 40 firefighters. In San Rafael, a stove fire that sent crews back inside for the family dog. In Bluffton, a cooking fire a sprinkler system caught before it spread. In Hudson, a kitchen fire that killed a family pet. In Petersburg, a kitchen fire whose sprinkler response pushed five households into hotels. Different states, same starting point.
If you want to see how FireBot stops a kitchen fire at the stove before it spreads, take a look at firebotssuppression.com.