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You are here: Home / Fires/Accidents/Disasters / Sprinkler puts out fire at Rockwell Collins, employees evacuated

Sprinkler puts out fire at Rockwell Collins, employees evacuated

September 15, 2009 By Matt Kelley

Nearly 700 employees at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids were evacuated from a number of buildings this morning because of a fire. Cedar Rapids Fire Department spokesperson Greg Buelow says a sprinkler system doused the fire, which started just above a drop-down tile ceiling over two interconnected buildings.

“The sprinkler system worked like it was supposed to. It put out the fire,” Buelow said. “Damage was contained to a 75 by 75 foot area. There is water damage in three buildings from the sprinkler system, but the good news is that everybody got out safely.” The fire was reported just after 9 a.m. within one of ten interconnected, single-story metal buildings on the southeast side of the Rockwell campus.

Buelow says most of the damage occurred in areas containing office and communications equipment. A few dozen workers were sent home for the day because of the damage to their workplaces. “It could have been a lot worse if the fire would have got into the roof and spread throughout the whole complex,” Buelow said.

Investigators determined the fire started when sparks from a contractor’s LP-gas torch ignited paper facing on insulation between the roof and the drop-down tile ceiling. Contractors were on the roof of one of the buildings to patch a hole.

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