COLUMBUS, Ind. – An automatic sprinkler system extinguished a small fire in a multi-family residential building following an electrical surge at 703 Washington St., on Wednesday afternoon. The Columbus Fire Department (CFD) said no injuries were reported, but crews were stretched thin following three additional alarms related to the power disturbance.
Firefighters responded to a fire alarm at Volunteers of America of Indiana Inc., 703 Washington St., just before 4 p.m. When they arrived, the building occupants were being evacuated, but no visible flames or smoke were noticeable from the exterior of the building. Crews reported they detected an odor of smoke within the building and a loss of power.
Accessing the building’s fire panel, CFD reported a water flow message and traced the source of smoke and water flow to a basement storage room. After entering the storage room, firefighters found an activated sprinkler head and burned items located on a metal storage rack. They searched through debris and confirmed no additional active fire before crews ventilated the building of smoke.
Investigators said the fire was caused by an electrical arc that took place when a nearby transformer produced a power surge that followed the grounding wire for 703 Washington St. They said the electric current passed through the ground wire that was wrapped around a water pipe in the storage room. The current arced from the water line to a metal rack containing several paper and cardboard products and plastic totes stored on the rack, causing a fire within the combustible materials.
CFD Investigator Andy Johns said the power of the arcing displaced a portion of the water pipe and likely emitted sparks near the storage rack. Once the fire’s growth produced enough heat, the sprinkler head closest to the fire activated appropriately and reduced the spread of flames to other combustibles in the room.
Damage from fire was isolated to the basement level storage room. Water damage from the activated sprinkler head was isolated to the basement level. Firefighters used ventilation fans to remove smoke from within the building before occupants were permitted to return to the living spaces. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire has been ruled electrical as a result of the power surge associated with the transformer fire.
While crews managed the fire at 703 Washington St., an electrical fire was reported at the Yes Cinema, 328 Jackson St., at 4 p.m. Firefighters searched the building, including the attic space, using a thermal imaging camera but found no evidence of fire.
At around 4:15, Bartholomew County 911 dispatchers alerted the Washington St. fire commander that a passerby reported seeing sparks coming from a utility pole transformer in an alley behind 703 Washington St. An additional apparatus located on the scene investigated and confirmed evidence of a transformer fire.
CFD was called to 646 Washington St, The Armory Apartments, for a structure fire alert from the building’s automated fire alarm system at 5:20 p.m. Noting that the power to the downtown area had just been restored, crews responded, but nothing was found.
