Fire sprinklers – not fire – displace apartment residents

By John Taylor (contact)

Friday, Aug. 16, 2013 | 3:34 p.m.

Residents of a Las Vegas apartment unit were able to avoid fire damage this morning by throwing a burning mattress out of a window, but they couldn’t avoid being displaced when fire sprinklers activated and damaged their apartment.

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said the fire was reported at 10:43 a.m. at a unit in the Maryland Villa Apartments, 701 N. 13th St.

Szymanski said someone in the apartment picked up the mattress and threw it out the window. The mattress fell to the ground and was extinguished by people outside.

But in the process, heat from the fire activated automatic sprinklers and water began to flow. Firefighters assisted in shutting off the water but not before the five residents in the affected unit were displaced because of the resulting damage.

The five residents — an adult, a teen and two children — are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.

There were no injuries reported.