Sprinklers Cause Major Damage At Lowe’s

A fire early Friday morning led to an extensive amount of water damage at Lowe?s.

Division Chief Brad Pettingill said the fire started at about 4 a.m. Employees discovered the fire and fought it with a fire extinguisher. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire was out, but the hardware store had a bigger problem ? the sprinklers.

Firefighters had to shut down the sprinkler system as there was no early way of turning them off. Pettingill said the system is activated when heat melts off a part of the sprinkler. There is no way to turn sprinklers off except by emptying the water supply, which firefighters did, though Pettingill noted in a news release that the sprinkler zone should have been isolated and drained more quickly.

“And with all the piping for the sprinkler system to go throughout the system, there’s hundreds of gallons of water in there,” said Pettingill.

Each sprinkler sends out 95 gallons of water a minute.

Lowe?s employees set up fans to clear smoke out of the store, which was still open Friday.

The fire was limited to a shelf unit and some contents, with damage estimated at $2,000. The damage caused by the water is estimated at $250,000.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.