Fire, Flooding, Power Outage at Fresno County Office of Education

An overnight fire at the Fresno County Office of Education (FCOE) building in downtown Fresno triggered the sprinkler system, causing flooding on the first floor and knocking out power to the building.

The small fire started just after 3 a.m. in the electrical room. The cause of the fire is unknown.

The FCOE and the Educational Employees Credit Union (EECU), located on the first floor ofthe building, remained closed Thursday while crews worked on water damaged floors.

"This is the origination point of the fire," says Jeff Becker, director of facilities, while pointing to an electrical panel in a room located on the first floor. "It was extinguished quickly by the one sprinkler head in the room."

Only one sprinkler went off because the system is triggered by heat, and the fire was confined to one room.

But a single sprinkler was enough to send water flowing from the electrical room throughout the first floor.

"The sprinkler head in a typical scenario puts out about 15 to 30 gallons a minute. It was probably expelling for 10 to 15 minutes at least," says Ron Stogdell, a battalion chief with the Fresno Fire Department.

Fire crews say the water streamed for 75 feet in each direction of the sprinkler.

Operations at the FCOE were limited Thursday while cleanup efforts continued.

"We do have staff that we had to release. There's also staff that we've relocated to other areas and staff that are working off site," Becker says.

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Fire, Flooding, Power Outage at Fresno County Office of Education