Construction Maison

In January 2015, a massive fire in Edgewater, N.J., demonstrated that buildings with sprinkler systems are not always protected against fire. The blaze destroyed 240 residential apartments and displaced 500 people from the Edgewater Avalon apartment building . The fire began when a maintenance worker’s plumbing torch accidentally ignited wooden wall studs , and flames quickly spread throughout the structure. Fifteen minutes passed before workers called the fire department . In that time, the fire spread throughout combustible void spaces (between walls and floors) and soon engulfed the building. Emergency personnel from 35 different cities and towns ultimately responded to the incident. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Immediately after the blaze, people asked why the fire was so devastating. The building had sprinklers, after all. Shouldn’t the sprinkler system have extinguished the fire? To make matters worse , this building had already burned down 15 years prior during i...

UPDATE: Luxury Apartment Complex Inferno Determined to Be Accidental A massive fire that swept through a luxury New Jersey apartment complex Wednesday afternoon continued to burn 12 hours after it began, causing nearby schools and roads to close Thursday. Firefighters struggled for hours to quench the flames at Avalon on the Hudson on Russell Avenue in Edgewater, 15 years after an earlier blaze burned the same complex to the ground as it was being built. "We left in what we had," displaced resident Tamara Talbott said. "We got the kids and the dogs. Our cars are all underneath. There's nothing left.”  Fire Rips Through Luxury Apartment Complex in NJ Luxury Apartment Complex in NJ" src="http://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/620*349/edgewater+fire+2.jpg" /> The New York Post reports Yankees announcer John Sterling was among those displaced by the fire. The fire was mostly contained by Wednesday night , with no loss of life or major injuries report...

Whitney and Luke Bowerman dream of building cottages on one of the few larger lots remaining in Olympia’s Eastside neighborhood. They want to leave the existing trees on the Fairview Street Southeast lot , and reflect the character of the neighborhood in their design. The cottages would join a new, three-bedroom house also designed to fit the area. But the city of Olympia has made it expensive to build cottages, the Bowermans said. They estimate that city fees alone will run $30,000 to $40,000 per cottage. And the cottages will be just between 500 and 800 square feet. “The impact fees for a 500-square-foot cottage are almost the same as for a single-family home,” Whitney Bowerman said. “But you can’t rent them for as much,” Luke Bowerman said. If changes aren’t made to reduce the costs, the Bowermans said, they might have to abandon the cottage idea and build a more traditional subdivision. Out of respect for the neighborhood, they don’t want to do that. Meanwhile, Olympia is poised...

EDGEWATER, New Jersey (WABC) -- Following a devastating apartment complex fire in Edgewater more than two years ago, New Jersey lawmakers are working to make future construction safer . Two bills have been introduced in the New Jersey State Assembly that are aimed at improving fire safety and building construction codes . The proposed legislation would increase sprinklers in concealed combustible spaces and limit the use of lightweight wood construction . "Without this, as you saw here in Edgewater, there is no chance," Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said. "So that's why it's so important to get this legislation moving quickly ." The January 2005 fire left hundreds of people at the Avalon apartment complex homeless . Officials said the fire spread so quickly and was virtually unstoppable because the building was made of lightweight materials with no firewalls. Photos: Massive fire tears through Edgewater apartment building However, with a recen...

| Share | Share | Share | Share June 04--A Conroe apartment complex went up in flames Saturday night after reportedly being struck by lightning, destroying eight units and displacing 41 people. No one was injured in the blaze at Autumn Woods Apartments , which began shortly before 10 p.m., according to the Conroe Fire Department . Eight of the building's 16 apartments were destroyed. The department's fire marshal's office does not believe the fire in the 2000 block of Plantation Dr. was caused by something suspicious but is investigating. The Autumn Woods complex was constructed before fire sprinklers were required to be installed, and it was unclear whether the apartments had working smoke alarms , Assistant Fire Chief Mike Legoudes , Jr. said in a press release. ___ (c)2017 the Houston Chronicle Visit the Houston Chronicle at www.chron.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency , LLC.

A Conroe apartment complex went up in flames Saturday night after reportedly being struck by lightning, destroying eight units and displacing 41 people. No one was injured in the blaze at Autumn Woods Apartments , which began shortly before 10 p.m., according to the Conroe Fire Department . Eight of the building's 16 apartments were destroyed. The department's fire marshal's office does not believe the fire in the 2000 block of Plantation Dr. was caused by something suspicious but is investigating. The Autumn Woods complex was constructed before fire sprinklers were required to be installed, and it was unclear whether the apartments had working smoke alarms , Assistant Fire Chief Mike Legoudes , Jr. said in a press release. 

The wesbite advertising the haunted house at Vaseo Apartments . (Photo: vaseohauntedhouse.com) The only boos heard at the fifth annual Vaseo Haunted House last week were from disappointed residents as the Phoenix Fire Department shut down the haunted house before it even had the chance to open. Because the complex built walls for the haunted house, it was required to have a fire-alarm system and sprinklers, in addition to flame-retardant props, emergency lighting and proper exiting, said Brian Scholl, a Phoenix fire inspector . Unfortunately, the haunted house, which was set to run the two weekends before Halloween at the apartment complex near Greenway Parkway and Seventh Street, didn't have the necessary safeguards to ensure the safety of its guests, he said. The complex announced the closure on its Facebook page on Oct. 16. MORE: Phoenix- area fire officials keeping tabs on haunted-house safety Emma Lowenstein, public relations director for the Vaseo Apartment Homes , said...

water damage incident Aug . 16 at Market Square Apartments , 200 N. Addison Ave., Elmhurst." class="automarg" src="http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/_internal/cimg!0/f25ywy10lpnhqgln5r0sugze3i8tgvj" /> Mary Stroka - mstroka@shawmedia.com Caption The Elmhurst Fire Department responds to a water damage incident Aug . 16 at Market Square Apartments , 200 N. Addison Ave., Elmhurst. ELMHURST – Three units at the Market Square Apartments in Elmhurst experienced water damage Wednesday morning after a worker accidentally set off the sprinkler system by soldering too close to a sprinkler head in a ceiling, Elmhurst Deputy Fire Chief Bill Anaszewicz said. The Fire Department responded to a 9:59 a.m. alarm, arriving at 10:04 a.m. at the apartments at 200 N. Addison Ave., Anaszewicz said. The laborer from a heating and cooling repair company had been working on an air-conditioning unit and soldering next to a floor joist, he said. The water damage went from the third ...

Show Thumbnails Show Captions Last SlideNext Slide The wesbite advertising the haunted house at Vaseo Apartments . (Photo: vaseohauntedhouse.com) PHOENIX — The only boos heard at the fifth annual Vaseo Haunted House last week were from disappointed residents as the Phoenix Fire Department shut down the haunted house before it even had the chance to open. Because the complex built walls for the haunted house, it was required to have a fire-alarm system and sprinklers, in addition to flame-retardant props, emergency lighting and proper exiting, said Brian Scholl, a Phoenix fire inspector . Unfortunately, the haunted house, which was set to run the two weekends before Halloween at the apartment complex near Greenway Parkway and Seventh Street, didn't have the necessary safeguards to ensure the safety of its guests, he said. The complex announced the closure on its Facebook page on Oct. 16. Emma Lowenstein, public relations director for the Vaseo Apartment Homes , said the decisio...

Cumberland firefighters respond to the Brookdale senior living community on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (WJAR) CUMBERLAND, R.I. —  Firefighters were called to a senior living facility in Cumberland on Thursday afternoon. No injuries were reported. The fire was contained to a third-floor apartment at Brookdale, but sprinklers in the building went off. Residents were temporarily moved to a dining hall while the flames were put out. A spokeswoman said residents who were displaced because of fire and water damage will be relocated to other living spaces. The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known.

Of Earls and Ladies Today, the face of London is the Muslim son of a bus driver. Sadiq Khan, the city’s directly elected mayor , in many ways represents how the city sees itself: multicultural, liberal and socially mobile. But much local governing authority is devolved to the councils that run London’s 32 boroughs, which can look very different from that. Of the Kensington council ’s 50 members, 46 are white and 37 are Conservatives. The cabinet, led by Ms. Campbell, is entirely white. One of her fellow councilors is Lady Catherine Faulks . Another is Mr. Feilding-Mellen, the stepson of the Earl of Wemyss and March. Another is Prof. Sir Anthony Coates , known locally as a man of letters — the letters being those he lists after his name to highlight his credentials. Continue reading the main story Timothy Coleridge, one of several councilors who attended Eton, Britain’s most exclusive private school , has served on the council since 1986, as did his father before him. Two years ago, h...