A sprinkler system worked as designed in an early morning fire in the 21600 block of 85 Pl. S., helping Kent firefighters to extinguish a fire in a large concrete tilt-up building.

The first indication of a problem in the business was a sprinkler water flow alarm. This type of alarm sends a warning when water moves through the sprinkler system after a sprinkler head is activated. When firefighters arrived they immediately noticed a strong smell of smoke in the area and quickly entered the building. Once inside they found the entire warehouse filled with smoke. More fire units from Kent and Tukwila were added to the incident along with a King County Paramedic unit.

It only took firefighters a few minutes to extinguish the fire, once it was located, minimizing the damage to the contents of the building. In this case, the sprinkler system was the key by activating a sprinkler head, which helped to check the growth of the fire, and secondly, automatically sending a signal to its monitoring company who in turn called 911.

The investigation of the fire was delayed until the smoke was removed from the building. A search found no one in the building during the fire.