Crime & Safety

False Fire Alarm At Meadow Road Office Building

Broken sprinkler sets off alarm, damages building.

A fire alarm at an office building on Meadow Road brought a fire engine, ladder truck and ambulance, as well as two police cars to block off the street Friday afternoon.

When firefighters arrived around 1 p.m., they discovered that the building was dripping—a busted sprinkler had set off the building’s alarm as well as its sprinkler system.

“They had a broken sprinkler pipe in the second floor mechanic room,” explained Northbrook District Chief Bob Brogan, who was one of several firefighters on scene at the building. The five-story property at 1240 Meadow Road houses ELB Mortgage and the North Suburban Center for Oral & Facial Surgery.

Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Unfortunately when it went off—you saw the result,” Brogan said, gesturing to the water dripping around him from the ceiling onto the building’s first floor. Standing beneath the building’s first floor overhang, it appeared to be raining from just above the front entrance—but it was simply water coming out of sprinklers on the second floor.

Police blocked off Meadow Road at Shermer Road and Cherry Lane for about half an hour while firefighters investigated the building. Although the road was opened up to cars, firefighters remained on scene after 2 p.m.

Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’re here for a little while to help clean up,” Brogan said.

Meanwhile, the building on Meadow will likely have drywall damage, damage to the hardwood floors and other problems due to the sprinklers, he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.