Firefighters Credit Sprinklers for Containing Weekend Fire

Tuesday, 3 September 2024

Effingham fire officials have credited a sprinkler system with limiting damage from a fire at a home improvement store Sunday night.

Fire crews responded to an alarm at Bob’s Discount on South Banker Street around 10:15 p.m. Sunday. When they arrived, they saw smoke through the building’s front windows, but they found the fire had been contained by the building’s sprinkler system, according to information released by Chief Brant Yochum.

Crews put out the remaining fire with two water extinguishers, then remained at the scene to ventilate the building, Yochum said.

Officials estimated water and smoke from the fire caused about $100,000 of damage, but they said the damage could have been worse without the sprinkler system.

“This incident underscores the critical importance of having a functional sprinkler system and alarm system in businesses,” Yochum wrote in a social media post. “These systems not only provide early detection and suppression, preventing potentially catastrophic damage, but they also help protect the safety of occupants and responding firefighters.”

Officials said they cause of the fire was accidental.

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