Category Archives: Nursing Home/Senior Living

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Burlington, NC – Fire in linen closet at senior living facility snuffed out by sprinkler system

Sprinklers put out a fire in a linen closet Wednesday, Jan. 23, at a Burlington senior living facility. The Burlington Fire Department responded to Brookdale Burlington, 3615 S. Mebane St., about 4:45 p.m. All occupants had been evacuated to safe areas, and the sprinkler system had confined the fire to the closet. Damage was estimated at $500 to the structure and contents. “This incident highlights the benefits of having a functional automatic fire sprinkler system where damage was very minimal and no injuries to occupants or firefighters occurred,” the Fire Department said. Eighteen fire personnel were involved in the response and investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Moosic, PA – Laundry fire at assisted living facility contained with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Some residents had to be removed from an assisted living facility in Lackawanna County on a very cold night after a dryer caught fire. Fire crews were called to Oakwood Terrace in Moosic around 8 p.m. last Wednesday. The assisted living facility along Gleason Drive is home to 45 elderly people. The fire started in the laundry room, and fire crews say the sprinkler system activated which helped contain the flames. Crews were forced to evacuate part of the building. With the help of police, ambulance crews, staff members, and some bystanders, 15 residents were moved to Moosic Alliance Community Church right across the street. The other 30 residents remained inside Oakwood Terrace.

“Right now, we’re working on the salvage. We’re working on getting some of the water off the floor from the hose line, and our intention tonight is to get everyone back in the building,” said Old Forge Fire Chief Mark Tagliaterra. No injuries were reported in this fire, and crews credit the overwhelming amount of manpower with getting these residents to safety, quickly. Those 15 residents were able to go back into Oakwood Terrace late Wednesday night.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

White Bear Lake, MN – Electrical fire at senior apartment building contained by sprinkler system

Ten seniors had to be evacuated from The Waters after an electrical cord apparently shorted in one resident’s apartment the morning of Dec. 29. “It was the cord leading to an alarm clock,” said White Bear Lake Fire Chief Greg Peterson. The fire on the third floor was controlled by the apartment buildings sprinkler system. Firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire. Four other fire departments assisted at the scene. Three people had minor injuries — burns and smoke inhalation, Peterson said. They were taken to local hospitals.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Blandon, PA – Sprinkler system activates in overnight fire at senior residential complex

State Police at Reading investigated a fire around 11 p.m. Wednesday night at Keystone Villa that left multiple residents displaced. Crews found a smoke condition throughout one portion of the structure on the second floor and fire at a wall mounted heating/air conditioning unit. The building was evacuated by employees and crews extinguished the fire. An employee was treated at the scene and two residents were transported for non-life threatening injuries, police say. The damage estimate is unknown … <there was> activation of the sprinkler system. The fire is classified as accidental. The Red Cross was on scene providing assistance to displaced residents.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Chattanooga, TN – Sprinkler system helps control fire at assisted living facility

No one was injured when a laundry room at a Chattanooga assisted living facility caught fire Sunday. Just after noon, Chattanooga firefighters were called to The Lantern at Morning Pointe on Shallowford Road. With the help of the facility’s sprinkler system, the fire was contained to the laundry room, according to the Chattanooga Fire Department. Follow this story to get email or text alerts from WRCB when there is a future article following this storyline. As a precaution, some residents were evacuated. Others were asked to shelter in place until the emergency was over. CFD Chief Schroyer said it appears the fire started in or near a clothes dryer. The blaze has been ruled accidental.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Easton, MD – Sprinkler system controls fire at senior citizen apartment complex; No injuries reported

The Maryland State Fire Marshal’s office is crediting smoke alarms and a sprinkler system for saving 18 senior citizens during an apartment complex fire.

According to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s office, around 12:15 p.m. on Friday, a wall mounted HVAC unit in the Asbury Senior Apartment Complex failed and caused a fire. The fire escalated to a two alarm fire, causing $15,000 in damage to the structure and $5,000 in damages to the building contests, authorities say.

The fire marshal reports that 18 senior citizens were evacuated from the building during the fire, assisted by the Easton Police Department. The fire marshal says the smoke alarms helped alert the seniors and the sprinklers controlled the fire before 70 firefighters responded to the complex.

While all the seniors escaped, authorities say they have been displaced from the East Dover Street complex due to the damage. The Maryland State Fire Marshal’s office says the American Red Cross is assisting the displaced senior citizens. 

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Wilkes-Barre, PA – Overnight fire in senior living center extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

City Fire Chief Jay Delaney said Wednesday a commercial dryer fire forced the evacuation of 61 residents from a senior living facility on North Sherman Street late Tuesday.  Residents returned to North Penn Manor at approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday, about three hours after the fire broke out in the laundry area of the facility.  Delaney praised building staff for a “well-coordinated evacuation” of residents, many wearing nightgowns and bed clothing when the fire broke out at about 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Residents initially were outside in two separate parking lots in cold temperatures. A sprinkler system extinguished the blaze that was contained to the laundry room.  Delaney said after conversing with the code enforcement office, it was decided it was safe for residents to go inside another part of the building.

“The staff did an excellent job at removing the residents in an orderly manner,” the chief said. “Given the time of night, residents were outside in nightgowns and bed clothing and hypothermia could quickly set in. After meeting with the city code enforcement, it was (determined to be) safe to place them in another wing of the building.”  Residents were then moved next door where the Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross has its building.  No injuries were reported. Ambulance companies from Hanover Township, Kingston and Plains Township plus TransMed assisted at the scene.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential, Residential High Rise

Pittsburgh, PA – Fire chief credits sprinkler system in preventing worse situation in high rise senior apartment building fire

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The Pittsburgh fire chief credited a sprinkler system with likely preventing a worse situation for seniors evacuated by a fire Saturday at their high-rise apartment building in Hill District.

“Thankfully, this 10-story building had a working sprinkler system,” Chief Darryl Jones said in a news release.  The residents of Ebenezer Towers on Dinwiddie Street were evacuated from the 99-unit apartment building after the two-alarm blaze broke out shortly after 5 p.m. The fire was quickly contained to two units.  Two people were transported to the hospital — an 85-year-old woman who was burned on her foot and a man who needed evaluation for a pre-existing condition. The man since has been released; the woman was in stable condition.

One resident was rescued from a second-floor balcony, according to the release. During the fire, police took several elderly people and families to the Zone 2 station for shelter. The city said residents on the upper floors were allowed to return to their apartments. The 24 residents of the first two floors were displaced due to smoke and water damage.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Plum, PA – Fire in senior apartment building contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Multiple fire departments responded to a stove top fire in a senior citizens apartment building in Plum shortly before noon on Sunday, according to authorities.  Residents of the four-story building along the 600 block of Repp Road were evacuated as smoke filled the building.  Authorities say the fire is believed to have started in an apartment on the fourth floor and was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV.  No one was injured in the blaze, according to Allegheny County Chief Fire Marshal Matt Brown. He said the fire was accidental, and limited and contained by an automatic fire sprinkler system. The American Red Cross was summoned to the scene to provide assistance to residents who may have been displaced as a result of the fire. A web page for the building where the fire was reported lists it as the Retirement Residence of Plum, which is open to people 55 and older who meet certain income requirements.

Apartment Building, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Ferndale, MI – Fire in 68-unit apartment building for elderly, disabled, and low income residents extinguished by sprinkler system

At about 8:30 pm last Monday night some residents of Withington West apartments were evacuated due to a fire that started in a fourth floor apartment.  Withington West is a 68-unit property of the Ferndale Housing Commission. It is home to elderly, disabled and low income residents. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The fire started on a stove, by a resident cooking chicken. Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan further explained that walls in the building are made of concrete, so fire remain contained. “The fire protection system did exactly what it was designed to do, enough heat was released to set of the sprinkler head in the kitchen, effectively extinguishing the fire. The fire pump came on when the head opened, the water pressure dropped, the fire pump made up the difference,” he said. He confirmed there were no injuries. He also clarified that only apartments immediately around that where the fire started were evacuated.

Residents were permitted back into the building once the fire was extinguished, and restoration crews were on the scene as of 10pm working to clean up water from the sprinkler system and fire department. The Fire Marshall was also on hand to conduct the investigation.

Housing Director Heather VanPoucker confirmed there were no injuries and that efforts to protect residents went smoothly. “Fire suppression worked exactly as intended.” VanPoucker said. “The fire department response was excellent as always.”