The fire that forced the evacuation of residents and staff at an assistant living facility in Belleview was apparently caused by Mother Nature. According to a spokesperson from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, it appears the fire was caused by a lightning strike. Damage to the attic area is approximately $30,000. The exact cause of the fire won’t be determined until the investigation is complete.
Marion County Fire Rescue officials said Friday there were reports of heavy weather with lightning in the area prior to the fire. Fire officials said the blaze started in the attic above the electric panels and moved along the trusses. Firefighters, sheriff’s deputies and others placed 56 residents from Hampton Manor Assisted Living, 10590 SE 62nd Avenue Road, onto buses that transported them to another Hampton Manor facility.
Fire officials said they received the call about 5:05 p.m. and arrived on scene at 5:11 p.m. The fire was under control at 5:29 p.m. Beatrice Kelty, community director at Hampton Manor, told the Star-Banner that Donna Clifford was in the kitchen when she heard a pop sound in the breaker and then saw fire in the ceiling. Clifford, the dietary supervisor, immediately pulled the alarm. There were seven staff members on duty at the time of the fire.
Kelty said she quickly went to the kitchen and doused the blaze with a fire extinguisher. Kelty said she and the other team members, including Dawn Crossley, a resident care manager, went to get the residents and evacuate them. None of the residents were in the kitchen at the time of the fire. When the fire started, Kelty said, they were in the middle of dinner.
“My team was excellent and the residents cooperated,” Kelty said. According to a fire report, as the fire made its way through the attic, a single fire sprinkler was activated and it contained the fire to the general area until firefighters arrived. The report also said that as soon as flames were seen in the attic, a staff member pulled the kitchen pull station that activated the hood. Though no fire was present in the hood, fire officials said it prevented the gas from going into the kitchen.
“The early actions by the staff to activate the fire alarm and notify MCFR along with the operation of the sprinkler system allowed for a quick response and to contain the damage,” according to the report. Cindy Campbell, director of operations, told the Star-Banner that all the residents remain at the Hampton Manor at 1500 SE 24th Road because the Belleview building sustained significant damage in the kitchen area.
Campbell said its unknown when the repairs will begin or end or when residents will be able to return to the Belleview building. For now, she said, they’re looking for an alternate location, and the residents at the Southeast 24th Road facility are adjusting well.
Passing motorists on Excelsior Road saw flames on a third-floor deck of a senior apartment complex Friday morning, alerting emergency responders to the Autumn Glenn complex in Baxter. The fire was reported about 7:20 a.m. At the scene, Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said residents on the third floor were evacuated as a precaution. Many had multiple questions as they were temporarily relocated. The 50-unit apartment building has about 16 units on each floor.
Brainerd Fire Chief Tim Holmes said the fire was contained to the deck but flames were climbing the wall and around the glass deck door, as well as a window when he arrived on scene. Holmes got the call when he just blocks away from the building. He said deck sprinkler played an important role in keeping the fire contained. The woman living in the apartment was also working to put the fire using a container or bowl filled with water when firefighters arrived. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
The deck remained secure to walk on, Holmes said. Siding was removed around the deck. The torn aqua-colored barrier wrap, formerly underneath the siding, flapped in the morning breeze. The area around the deck doors was charred black and holes were cut above the deck to access the attic. Holiday decorations hung from the deck rail, trailing down to lower floors.
The second floor resident’s deck just below the fire, complete with chairs and potted plant, appeared undisturbed. No injuries were reported. Karen Struthers, community manager for Autumn Glenn, said all the residents were fine. She said the apartment occupant was with family and the complex residents would now have conversation fodder for the weekend. It was too early to determine the extent of the damage in terms of a dollar amount, Struthers said.
Fire departments in Summers County responded to a fire Monday afternoon at Hinton House Apartments on Stokes Drive. Steve Pack, Assistant Fire Chief of Hinton Fire Department, said the fire erupted in a kitchen on the fifth floor of the building, and is believed to have started because of an issue with an electric stove. The state Fire Marshal’s Office is still investigating.
When the sprinkler system kicked on and put out the fire, it caused flooding to the lower floors along with residents’ carpet, ceilings and several other areas throughout the building. Many residents were able to be housed with friends and family, but the local senior citizen center has been housing residents as well.
Red Cross has been providing those affected by the fire with blankets, food and cots. Stephanie Elkins, property manager for the Hinton House, said they are hoping to open up the half of the building that was not damaged, but inspections are still being completed. “I wish I could bring all of these people home tomorrow, but sadly I am still unsure of when I will be able to do that,” said Elkins. Officials are working on reopening Hinton House, but it may be a substantial amount of time before the whole residence opens up its doors again. A time frame is still unknown.
A small fire Wednesday night (May 17) at the Villas residential care facility in De Soto led to the evacuation of about 35 residents, the De Soto Fire Department reported. At 11:32 p.m., the fire department got a call about an alarm sounding at the facility, 1550 Villa Drive, Fire Chief Craig Block said. When firefighters arrived at 11:40 p.m., they found light smoke showing in the building, he said.
“Upon further investigation, they found there was a fire in a storage room, but the sprinkler system had put it out,” Block said. “We have an updated sprinkler system and a current digital alarm,” said Beverly Rector, administrator for the Villas.
Because of the fire and smoke, a second alarm was struck and firefighters from the De Soto Rural, Hematite, Hillsboro, Festus and R-7 fire protection districts responded to the scene and helped with the evacuation. They also were joined by emergency medical personnel from Valle, North Jefferson, Joachim-Plattin and Rock Township ambulance districts, Block said. Rector said people were already being evacuated when emergency responders arrived at the facility.
“We evacuated the entire campus to safe zones on the property,” she said. Residents were evacuated to the parking lot of the facility. Meanwhile, firefighters ventilated the building to remove the smoke, Block said. One patient, who complained about being injured during the evacuation, was transported to an area hospital, Block said. The state Fire Marshal’s Office was called in and determined the fire was accidental, Block said. “We still don’t have a report on the cause of the fire,” he said.
Residents were back in their rooms at about 12:45 a.m., Block said. He said safeguards in the building stopped the situation from becoming worse. “Luckily, the sprinkler system did its job,” Block said. Rector said staff at the Villas were grateful to the emergency responders. “The fire department and EMS should be commended,” she said. “They have our gratitude. They were quick and helpful and efficient in the process.”
Officials say building safety features and a quick response kept a fire at a Mason City senior living complex from turning into a tragedy. Firefighters learned of the blaze at 5:56 a.m. Saturday at Shalom Tower II, 321 Fourth St. N.E. They were dispatched to investigate an automatic fire alarm controlled by the building’s sprinkler system. The fire was located in an apartment on the fifth floor. Crews performed search and rescue on the sixth and seventh floors, and made sure three floors — the fifth, sixth and seventh — were evacuated, according to a Mason City Fire Department statement issued Monday. The rest of the building also was evacuated. Firefighters say the blaze was contained to bedding and a bed, although there was smoke damage throughout the apartment.
Mason City Fire Marshal Jamey Medlin said the fire would have been far worse had it not been kept in check by the building’s sprinkler system. The quick actions by emergency responders, which also included the North Iowa CERT, also made a difference, he said. “There were no life-threatening injuries to occupants of the building, and residents were able to return to their apartment(s) later that morning or by early afternoon,” he said in the statement. Owned by Good Shepherd, Shalom Tower 2 a 48-unit complex with residents who are age 55 and older. Officials say 44 residents were assisted during the fire.
A fire at Silver Birch Court last week resulted in the evacuation of 55 people. During the evening of Thursday, March 16, Strathcona County Emergency Services responded to a fire alarm at Silver Birch Court, located in Sherwood Park and managed by the Heartland Housing Foundation.
As the alarm was triggered by a grease fire in an occupied unit, it was controlled by the building’s sprinkler system until first responders arrived to fully extinguish the fire. The water from the sprinkler flooded all four floors of the east wing of the affordable housing facility, resulting in considerable damage to the suite of origin; however, due to the rapid deployment of the sprinklers and firefighter response, no smoke damage was seen outside the suite of origin.
Strathcona County Victim Services staff, transit buses, RCMP and Enforcement Services provided on-site support for the evacuated residents of Silver Birch Court, and no injuries were reported. As of Friday, March 17, restoration services were on–site and work is being done to have residents return to their suites as soon as possible.
More than 40 elderly residents were evacuated during a fire early Friday morning at the Davenport Resident on Putnam Avenue, an eight-story building with 217 apartments that houses mostly senior citizens.
Firefighters responded to the apartment complex, located at 125 Putnam Avenue, at 6:46 a.m. after receiving 911 calls and a report from the fire-alarm company that services the property, according to Deputy Chief Gary Merwede.
The first-arriving crews found multiple elderly residents were in the process of evacuating the building and required assistance. The fire was determined to be in a third-floor apartment, according to Merwede.
Merwede said that several residents were physically carried from stairwells by firefighters.Incident Commander Ronald Desroches called for a second alarm and all remaining Hamden Fire companies were dispatched to the scene and the fire was under control at approximately 7:25 a.m., according to Merwede.
“American Medical Response was asked to set-up a triage center in the adjoining 135 Putnam Dunbar Residence,” Merwede said in a press release. “AMR paramedics triaged more than 40 elderly residents, with one elderly female patient requiring transport for exposure to smoke and cold temperatures. The Hamden CERT Team was activated and assisted with displaced residents during operations. Several disabled residents were protected in place in apartments or designated areas of refuge by firefighters above the fire floor.
“The fire was contained to the room of origin. Companies worked to ventilate smoke, carbon monoxide and the other products of combustion on floors 3 – 8. The ventilation operation took more than an hour following suppression. After firefighters metered for a safe atmosphere, residents were escorted back to their apartments by Hamden CERT.”
Merwede said the building’s sprinkler system held the fire in check and allowed firefighters to stop the fire from spreading to additional floors and apartments.
“The fire-alarm system performed according to design and alerted the occupant of the fire apartment and all building residents of the emergency,” Merwede said. “Due to these fire protection systems, the resident in 313 and others on the fire floor were able to make it to the stairwell and either self-evacuate or await assistance from firefighters.”
Deputy Fire Marshal Tim Lunn determined that the fire was most likely caused by an overheated extension cord.
The management of the Davenport Residence is relocating any resident displaced by this emergency due to fire, water or smoke damage to vacant apartments elsewhere in the complex, according to Merwede.
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
