Fire Dept.: Sprinkler System Puts Out Fire at Iowa City Retirement Community

A minor fire that started this morning in the laundry room of the Legacy Pointe Active Retirement Community was kept that way by the building's sprinkler system, extinguishing it before it could cause more serious damage. 

According to the Iowa City Fire Department, the fire department received an alert of a fire at Legacy Pointe, 1020 S. Scott Boulevard, at 2:00 a.m. from fire alarms within the building. Crews that arrived on scene encountered light smoke in the first flower hallway that appeared to have been generated from the laundry room.

Upon further inspection, Iowa City firefighters found a plastic bucket containing cleaning rags that had caught fire in the laundry room. The fire, however, had fortunately already been extinguished by a single sprinkler head directly above the fire area before firefighters arrived.

From this point, firefighters worked to shut down the water flow to the activated sprinkler head, ventilate smoke from the building, and removewater from the floor.

No residents, facility staff, or firefighters were injured during the incident. Firefighters temporarily relocated residents away from the fire area while investigating a potential blaze.

According to the release, fire investigators determined that the autoignition of cleaning rags was the cause of the accidental fire. The fire department estimates the total cost of damage to the facility is $3,000.