Category Archives: Nursing Home/Senior Living

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Farmers Branch, TX – (No Media Coverage) Fire at senior living center suppressed by sprinkler system

** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Department Reported ** — Excerpt from FD report.  This afternoon (Dec. 19) at 1418 the FD responded to a structure fire at the Brookdale Senior Living facility (13505 Webb Chapel Road). A small fire was contained to a room by the operation of 1 sprinkler head. This makes 8 sprinkler suppressed fires the FD has responded to in 2016.

The cause of the fire is accidental. A oxygen compressor in the area of origin was in operation at the time and was smoking according to eyewitnesses prior to the fire. Residents were assisted in evacuation when the smoke alarm activated. While evacuating, the sprinkler head fused above the unit. No injuries were reported.

 

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Zelienople, PA – Sprinklers douse fire at retirement center; No injuries

An apartment building sprinkler system doused an electrical fire early Wednesday morning before it spread. 

Chief Scott Garing of the Harmony Fire District said the fire ignited in apartment 234 in the Blue Spruce neighborhood of the Passavant Retirement Community on Burgess Drive. 

“It was a power supply for an electrical device,” Garing said.  He said the female occupant, whose name was unavailable, was sleeping in the living room when the fire started in the bedroom. After responding to the 12:36 a.m. 911 call, firefighters checked the attic and walls to ensure all the flames were extinguished. 

Garing credited the building staff for evacuating roughly 50 residents from their apartments to a central room behind fire doors in the building. He said when the safety of occupants already is addressed, crews can immediately focus on fire suppression. 

Garing said the apartment and one below it sustained water damage. The Adams Area, Cranberry Township and Evans City volunteer fire departments assisted the Harmony Fire District. The Harmony and Cranberry Township ambulance services also responded. 

Fire crews cleared the scene at 2:25 a.m. 

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Ridgefield, CT – Kitchen fire at senior living facility extinguished with help from sprinkler system

The Ridgefield Fire Department responded to a chair fire at Ridgefield Crossings around 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4. Fire Chief Kevin Tappe said that an elderly woman who lives in the facility was heating a towel in the microwave and it ignited. “The woman grabbed the towel out of the microwave and then tossed it across the room,” Chief Tappe said. “It landed by a chair with clothing on it and started the chair and clothes on fire.”

The facility’s manager used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and the building’s sprinkler system finished the job, Tappe said. According to the chief, there was very little fire damage and some smoke and water damage. Chief Tappe said that the fire alarms and sprinkler system worked properly. Fire officials opened the windows and used fans to clear the smoke from the building, Tappe said. No one was injured.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Gatineau, QC, Canada – Fire at seniors’ residence put out by sprinklers; No injuries

Gatineau firefighters concentrated on assisting residents of a seniors’ centre early Thursday after a sprinkler system was able to douse a small blaze.

Fire alarms sounded at about 4:30 a.m. at the residence on 250 St. Raymond Blvd.

A number of residents were temporarily moved for security reasons and may be displaced for a few days, officials say.

There were no injuries. First indications were the fire may have been caused by smoking materials.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Sacramento, CA – Sprinkler system slows spread of fire that started in electric player piano

A fire that is believed to have begun in an electric player piano at a senior assisted living center in south Sacramento led to four residents being taken to the hospital.

The fire suppression sprinkler system slowed the spread of the small blaze, but smoke filled parts of the Regency Place assisted living center, 8190 Arroyo Vista Drive, about 1 a.m. Thursday. Residents had to be helped from the smoky center in the Valley Hi neighborhood.

“The fire stayed confined to the piano and the general area around it,” said Sacramento fire Capt. Dave Lauchner. “It was controlled by the fire sprinkler and extinguished by the first crews.”

The piano was in the front area of the assisted living center, Lauchner said.

“The main problem was not so much fire, but the smoke that filled the place up, including the hallways,” Lauchner said. “After putting out the fire, we had to get people out. I believe four went to the hospital. There were different injuries. All minor.”

Lauchner said the fire eventually went to two alarms to bring enough firefighters to help with building evacuation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise

Southfield, MI – Early morning fire in senior high-rise complex put out by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The all-clear has been given after some scary, smoky moments inside a senior living complex in Southfield early Thursday morning.  Fire crews were called around 3:30 a.m. to Highland Towers off Greenfield Road near Interstate 696 because the fire alarms were going off. Many residents saw and smelled smoke.  Firefighters were door to door on all 12 floors trying to wake everyone up and learn where the smoke was coming from.

“We didn’t know where the fire came from,” says Deborah Taylor-Kiel. “I just smelled the smoke because the doors shut and the fire alarm went off in my apartment where I live, and that’s very scary.”

Eventually, firefighters learned someone threw something down the trash shoot which started a fire in the trash room. The sprinkler system was able to put the fire out.

No one was hurt and nobody’s individual apartment was damaged, so everyone was allowed back in their homes. Some parts of the building have water damage now, though. 

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Abingdon, VA – Sprinkler system helps extinguish fire at retirement home

A man was taken to the hospital Friday morning after his apartment in a retirement home in Abingdon, Va. caught fire.

News 5 learned it happened just before 7 a.m. at the Green Spring Retirement Home. The man was taken to the hospital for observation.

The Green Spring Volunteer Fire Department chief said they believe the fire was caused by a rag left on the stove. The fire quickly spread to other appliances causing an estimated $35,000 in damages.

The activation of a sprinkler system helped crews put out the fire quickly.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Lafayette, LA – No injuries at senior apartment building as sprinkler system limits fire to one unit

Dozens of elderly residents were displaced Tuesday night after a fire at the historic Evangeline Hotel in downtown Lafayette. The building is located at the intersection of Jefferson and Vine St.

Lafayette fire officials say it could be a couple of days, maybe even weeks, before residents can return back to the complex, but the 69 residents who were evacuated are now safe and sound at a local hotel.

The fire started in the kitchen of a room on the 4th floor of the six story building around 8:30 p.m. Fire officials say the tenant was cooking when she fell asleep.

“Fortunately, the apartments had a sprinkler system and it activated pretty quickly and extinguished the fire, so the fire was contained to the small area,” said Lafayette Fire Investigator, Alton Trahan, but it’s the amount of water that the sprinkler system produced that caused the evacuation of residents.

“The water damage from the sprinkler system actually went from the 4th floor all the way down to the 1st floor, so you had a lot of flooding in all the units underneath,” said Trahan.

Electrical hazard concerns had prompted the owners to cut power to the building and bring in engineers to inspect the damage.

“A lot of components within that facility need to be examined and once it’s cleared they’ll be able to put the power back on,” said Trahan.

Meanwhile, the displaced residents, initially housed in two hotels, have since been reunited at one local hotel.

“Most of them came last night, a few of them early this morning,” said Shawn Johnson, General Manager of the Ramada Inn. “I think we’re accommodating about 41 people.”

Johnson says they had to do a little moving around, but they were able to squeeze everyone in.

“They all have their own room,” said Johnson. “We’ve included all their meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner all together, so I’m very grateful and thankful we’re able to accommodate them. Most of them came in with just what they had on.”

News 10 also spoke with the on-site manager of the Evangeline Apartments and she said the property is controlled by the Lafayette Neighborhoods’ Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, who wished not to comment at this time citing that their first priority is the residents well-being.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential High Rise

Lafayette, LA – Sprinkler system activates in high-rise senior apartment building fire; No injuries reported

The fire originated in an apartment on the fourth floor of Evangeline Elderly Apartments. It was caused by an occupant who left a pot of grease unattended on the stove top. The grease ignited and caught the cabinets in the kitchen on fire. The sprinkler system in the apartment activated and quickly extinguished the fire. The kitchen sustained minimal fire damage. However, heavy water damage was observed seeping through light fixtures on the first floor.

Concerned of electrical hazards from the water, 69 tenants were evacuated and later transported to two local hotels. The management company arranged for the transportation and lodging.

Acadian Ambulance, Lafayette Police, and American Red Cross assisted fire personnel with the care of the elderly tenants. No one sustained any injuries.

The cause of the fire was ruled an accident.

ORIGINAL STORY:A small fire that broke out Tuesday evening at Evangeline Elderly Apartments in Lafayette has inadvertently caused big problems for more than 60 of its residents.

According to information from the Lafayette Fire Department, a small fire broke out in a fourth-floor apartment’s kitchen Tuesday, triggering the building’s sprinkler system. The fire was extinguished before firefighters arrived at the scene; however, the water from the sprinkler system caused another issue.

As a result of the water from the sprinkler system, firefighters worked to evacuate about 65 of the complex’s residents.

“The fourth floor on down has sustained some extent of water damage,” Lafayette Fire Department spokesman Alton Trahan said in an email. “Water is seeping through some of the electrical fixtures on each floor.”

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Jackson, NJ – Sprinkler system activates in fire at senior assisted living complex; No injuries reported

A fire Sunday morning at the Bella Terra assisted living complex at 2 Kathleen Drive resulted in approximately 100 people being evacuated to Jackson Liberty High School, Jackson Township Chief of Police Matthew Kunz said.

Mayor Michael Reina said the fire broke out in the D-wing of the facility and resulted in the evacuation of 44 rooms. More than 30 people living in that wing were taken to Jackson Liberty High School for temporary shelter.

“The only thing I know is that the fire was in the attic area above the third floor. It might have been initiated in a heating, air conditioning unit and spread out into the attic area,” Kunz said late Sunday morning at Jackson Liberty as the evacuees were being transported into the high school. “The sprinkler systems were activated, as a result of the heat and the fire causing extensive water damage on that side of the building.”

Both Kunz and Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardy said the high school was being used as a temporary staging area for the evacuees.

Kunz said: “There were no injuries, but because of the fire and water damage, there had to be an evacuation of the building so the building department and inspections could get in and take an assessment as to what was damaged or if it (Bella Terra) could be rehabitated. That’s going to be an all-day process.”

Denise Olejarz, Deputy Coordinator for the Jackson Office of Emergency Management, said early Sunday afternoon that some of the evacuees had either gone home with family members or been transported back to Bella Terra. Olejarz said not all the rooms at Bella Terra are habitable.

Reina said the D-wing had roof damaged and would remain closed until further notice. Bella Terra had enough open units to relocate the D-wing’s residents, he said.

Ethel Levine, 89, resident of Bella Terra for 13 years, said the fire alarm at the complex went off at about 7 a.m. She said members of the Jackson Township Fire Department arrived at about 7:30 a.m., knocking on the doors of the residents and telling everyone to move into the lobby area.

“Then they told us, which of us had to be evacuated,” Levine said. Levine, who lives on the second floor of the complex, said said she remained calm.

“I’ve been through a bomb scare when I worked at the post office so this didn’t bother me,” Levine said.

John Dittman, 60, a resident at Bella Terra for eight years, also said everyone remained calm before they were transported to Jackson Liberty.

“The only pain was being inconvenienced. It wasn’t scary,” Dittman said.

Mastronardy said there were over a dozen ambulances on site and a bus from the Monmouth County EMS Task Force to assist in the evacuation process.

The fire occurred at about 7:20 a.m, and the Jackson Township Police Department and officers with stations 54 and 55 of the Jackson Township Fire Department responded to the alarm, Jackson Police Deparment Lt. John Decker said.

Fire departments from neighboring towns also came to help, Reina said.

“The evacuation, rescue went seamless and not a single injury,” he said. “I’m a very grateful mayor tonight.”