An apartment fire Saturday morning at The Retreat in Peachtree City was extinguished by a fire sprinkler, city fire officials reported today.

As a result, the fire did not spread beyond the apartment to the other 19 units in the three-story building at The Retreat at Peachtree City, formerly The Amli Apartments at Kedron, officials said.

The blaze started when the resident left food cooking on the stovetop and it caught fire, officials said. The flames extended into the vent hood and into the cabinets above the stove.

That in turn activated one sprinkler head that doused the flames, officials said.
The resident escaped with no injuries, and firefighters were able to immediately control the water flow after determining the fire was out.

The fire crews then replaced the sprinkler head which had activated and recharged the system. No other residents in the building were affected by the incident.

Cooking is the leading cause of fires and fire injuries in structures, according to the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Data Center. The leading type of material in cooking fires is food, especially fats, oils and grease.

Fire officials have said that fire sprinkler systems are designed to activate only in areas where there is actual fire, unlike footage seen in fictional movies where a fire sets off sprinklers in an entire building even in rooms where fire isn’t present.