By Leslie Malik, Customer Service Representative Sonitrol Pacific Portland
Posted March 17, 2009

Sonitrol Pacific Michael Young “arrested” a fire at J&M Auto Body in Milwakie, Ore. when he sent the fire department to respond to a water-flow activation and fire verified with SonaVision video surveillance.

Early morning, Tuesday March 10, Michael received the water-flow fire alarm activation and immediately dispatched Clackamas County Fire Department to the site. Mike verified there was indeed a fire in the building by viewing live images from the interior cameras in the shop through their SonaVision system; the entire area was filled with smoke. The fire was promptly extinguished by the water-flow sprinklers and fire department personnel.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and appears to have started from underneath a parked vehicle in the building.

An interesting note, approximately 30 minutes prior to the fire alarm, there was an audio activation from the same area as where the fire later erupted. Mike described the noise as a loud car horn that sounded as if it was stuck. He dispatched Advanced Security to the building to check it out. At that time, no evidence of fire was seen on the video, as the fire ignited beneath the car; it was several minutes later those red flames could be seen. Security guards arrived just after the fire department.

The business owner was quite tired after the incident, and seemingly almost overwhelmed by television news crews, fire investigators, insurance adjusters, the door repair company and locksmith. But, he stopped to compliment Sonitrol Pacific on a job well done in responding so quickly. They are very pleased with the quality of their SonaVision system and we were able to burn copies of the fire breaking out, for the investigators and adjusters.

More information about this event can be found in the OregonLive article.