News

Residents of Building C who were around on the afternoon of Thursday, July 25th are keenly aware that we had a visit from the BI Fire Department, along with trucks from two neighboring departments. Winslow Way was closed for a time at rush hour because of all the fire equipment.  It looked like a big deal... In fact, IT WAS!

This was the first fire that we have had at Harbor Square, other than burned dinner. It was bad, as you will learn, but it could have been much worse.

Here is what happened:  Housekeepers cleaned a Unit on the fourth floor of Building C and, as they were leaving,  started the dishwasher. The resident returned to his clean unit and retired to the bedroom for a nap.  He was awakened by the smoke alarm in his unit and found his dishwasher on fire with visible flames and so much smoke that he was unable to stay in the unit. He retreated to the balcony and called 911.  Fire fighters arrived at his door within a few minutes and extinguished the flames. The sprinkler system was not triggered and the building-wide alarm did not go off until the firefighters opened the door to the unit, which allowed smoke to enter the hallway.*  The building evacuation went fairly well, including one resident in a wheelchair, who had to be carried down the stairs by family members. Most people congregated at the designated emergency assembly point as specified in the Harbor Square Emergency Information publication. No one was injured in the fire.

The burned appliance is pictured, below.  This was clearly a serious fire that could have spread, if not for the quick response of the BIFD.  The good news is that the smoke alarm in the unit worked, the resident was there to call 911 and things were dealt with fast enough so that there were no injuries and property damage was limited to the appliance itself, the nearby floor and some smoke damage.

Although this was a rather big deal for the resident involved, things could have been much worse! It is important that all of us take the lessons that this fire has provided us very seriously.

First Lesson:  Smoke detectors save lives! Smoke detectors have a useful life of about ten years. The ones in the unit where the fire occurred were original equipment from the time Harbor Square was built (2007). The detectors worked but the longer those devices are on the job, past ten years, the greater the risk of them not responding when they are needed. Please consider replacing the smoke detectors in your unit with fresh dual power units. 

Lesson: 2: Never leave appliances such as washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, space heaters or any cooking equipment running in your unit when no one is home.

Lesson 3: Did you wonder why a kitchen fire extinguisher was a good idea?

* Had the sprinkler system triggered, the flow rate from a single sprinkler head is about 20 gallons per minute.  Only the Fire Department is authorized to shut them off. Assuming that it takes the FD only ten minutes to arrive on the scene, assess the situation and shut off the water, that means that 200 gallons of water would be dumped in the unit where the head was triggered.  That water would then flow down into the units below, doing tens of thousands of dollars worth of water damage on the way.  Also: Smoke detectors in the units are not tied in to the building fire safety system. That prevents the building from having to evacuate every time a resident burns some toast.  The smoke detectors in the hallway ARE tied into the building system; so, if you burn your bagel and there is no threat to life and property, it is best not to open the door to the hallway to clear the smoke out of your unit. Open the windows and turn on the fans, instead.