Category Archives: Nursing Home/Senior Living

Hospital/Care Facility, Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Danville, KY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at nursing home

A fire in one of the back wings of Landmark of Danville Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Sunday led to evacuation of the building and seven total residents and employees transported to the hospital.

There were no life-threatening injuries, but the people transported had been subject to smoke inhalation, said Danville-Boyle County Emergency Management Director Mike Wilder. He said all the residents were evacuated with no major issues.

Danville Fire Department Chief Doug Simpson said the dispatch to a structural fire at 203 Bruce Court, the address of Landmark, came at 9:05 a.m. Sunday morning. A sprinkler in one of the back wings had gone off. “But the sprinkler system did do its job and knocked the fire down,” Simpson said. “There was just little flames when we got there, but most of the issues were dealing with smoke.”

He said the seven individuals transported were taken to the hospital via Emergency Management Services, and the fire department also received help from the Boyle County Fire Department, “Which we really appreciated.”

“All the first responders did a great job, worked as a team and the Landmark staff did a great job as well evacuating the residents,” Simpson said.

He said there was no structural damage, but there was a lot of smoke, and some damage was done to the origin of the fire area.

Wilder said when the call was first dispatched, he “cringed” because “It’s one of the horrors we have in the first responder business, something like that occurring,” like a fire at a nursing home, since it’s “such a task” to get everyone evacuated.

“It took me a little while to get myself together,” he said.

Luckily, though, everyone was evacuated safely, and he wanted to note that the there was also mutual aid from Garrard and Lincoln counties — one rescue unit from Garrard County and one from Lincoln County to help evacuate residents.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Santa Rosa, CA – Fire at senior housing center extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A small fire Sunday morning at a senior housing center was squelched by the sprinkler system, but the resulting flooding displaced several residents, according to Napa Fire.

The fire department was notified of a sprinkler activation and water-flow alarm at the building in the 1400 block of Redwood Road, according to Napa Fire spokesperson Matt Colburn. After the first engine company at the scene saw smoke in a hallway, other firefighters were called to the building, Colburn said.

Sprinklers doused the fire inside an apartment, but about 10 other units had to be vacated due to the resulting flow of water, according to Colburn, who said firefighters stayed for more than four hours to help clear out the water. No injuries were reported.

The cause remains under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Frisco, TX – Fire at senior living community contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

The Frisco Fire Department on Monday announced an investigation into a fire that started in an apartment at the Watermere at Frisco independent senior living community, located at 4220 Cotton Gin Road.

The fire was contained in the apartment of origin due to the activation of the fire sprinkler system, the department stated. Dispatch was alerted by the alarm company of a ‘water flow’ alarm at 9:36 a.m. Sunday. The first unit arrived three minutes later. Frisco Fire responded with two engines, one ladder truck, and one battalion chief on the initial assignment due to it being an alarm investigation in a specialty risk structure, the department stated.

During the investigation by the first arriving unit, smoke was found in the building.

Additional units were requested as a working fire was declared. The fire, located in an apartment on the second floor, was kept small and not allowed to grow as rapidly due to the fire sprinklers that had activated when the fire began, the department stated. A total of 15 units and 35 personnel were dispatched to the fire. Eight units and 22 personnel were used to help mitigate the incident.

No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Utilities to the apartments damaged by fire or water have been shut off. Watermere a Frisco is a four-story independent senior living community.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

New Haven, CT – Sprinkler system activated for fire at senior apartment building; No injuries reported

Two fires in four days broke out on the 10th floor of the McQueeney Towers public housing complex—the first in an empty office space, the second outdoors on a residential balcony.

No tenants were hurt or displaced as city firefighters quickly put out both blazes.

Both of those fires took place at the 83-unit Charles T. McQueeney Towers Apartments at 358 Orange St. downtown. The public housing authority property is home to low-income seniors and people with disabilities. It also hosts on its groundfloor the headquarters of the Housing Authority of New Haven.

The first fire took place at around 12:20 p.m. on Saturday. The second took place at around 7:58 p.m. on Tuesday. Both occurred on the high-rise’s 10th floor.

Here’s what happened, according to city Fire Chief John Alston.

On Saturday, he said, the fire took place in a non-residential office space on the 10th floor.

The fire was consistent with an overloaded electrical outlet and extension cord, he said. The extension cord was not Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certified.

“It overheated and caused a fire in that area,” Alston said.

Because that 10th-floor office space was empty at the time, Alston said, “the fire burned undetected until it activated the sprinkler system and the alarm system.”

Firefighters contained the blaze, he said, but there was “a lot of water damage” due to the activation of the sprinklers. A lot of the water got into the building’s elevator shaft, he said, leading to the elevator being taken out of service for a few hours.

Thanks to the hard work of an elevator tech and firefighters who “dewatered” and dried the elevator shaft and checked all of the apartments below the fire, the elevator was brought back online within a few hours and no tenants were displaced. (McQueeney Towers has two elevators but, at the time of the fire on Saturday, one elevator was already out of service and awaiting repairs.)

The Tuesday evening fire at McQueeney also took place on the building’s 10th floor, Alston said.

This time, the blaze occurred on a residential apartment’s outdoor balcony.

“A large amount of materials were burned,” he said. “Fortunately, because it was outside, the fire was contained to the outside.”

There was “minor water intrusion” into the unit, he said. Again, no injuries, and no displacements.

This second fire is still under investigation, Alston said. It appears to have taken place in a large, plastic storage container on the outdoor balcony. Firefighters did not find any grill on the balcony, he said.

While the department is not yet sure whether the fire was intentional or accidental, Alston said, the cause appears to be “by human hand.”

Does the fire department think these two 10th-floor fires were related?

“At this time, it’s inconclusive” whether or not they are related, he said.

While the department is confident that the “ignition source” of Saturday’s fire was electrical, he said, the department is still investigating what exactly was the ignition source of Tuesday’s balcony blaze.

How would he describe city firefighter responses to both fires?

“In both instances, tremendous responses,” he said. “Quick response. Quick knock down [of both fires]. I’m very proud.”

Asked for comment on both McQueeney fires, Housing Authority of New Haven Interim Director Shenae Draughn told the Independent: “The fire yesterday was contained to a balcony and was extinguished quickly.  The fire on Saturday activated our sprinkler system that extinguished the fire. Both are under investigation.

“Once the investigation is completed, we’ll implement mitigating procedures. Our team, police and fire did an exceptional job with ensuring resident’s safety and that their subsequent needs were taken care of.”

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Sergeant Bluff, IA – Sprinkler system activated for dumpster fire next to senior living center; No injuries reported

No one was injured when a dumpster caught fire at a senior living center Monday afternoon.

Fire officials said a dumpster caught fire at Floyd Place Senior Living in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

A neighbor made the 9-1-1 call and pulled the dumpster away from the building.

Before fire crews could arrive, officials said police put the dumpster fire out.

However, the fire damaged part of the building’s siding.

“We had the sprinkler system going off helping extinguish the fire, we did a secondary search making sure everyone was out of the building. They’ll have the fire sprinkler company coming up to reset their fire sprinklers. It was a great case they maintained their fire protection systems well. And the fire sprinkler system saved their building,” said fire chief Anthony Gaul.

As a precuation, resident were evacuated. They were allowed back inside after fire crews checked out the damage.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

St. Johnsbury, VT – Sprinkler system activated for dryer fire at senior care facility; No injuries reported

Senior residents of the Canterbury Inn Residential Care facility in St. Johnsbury are being housed in a hotel after a fire this weekend.

Fire officials say the fire started Sunday night in the laundry room and was contained to only that room.

After interviews with the building owner, officials say he started a gas fired clothes dryer and 15 minutes later, the fire alarm went off.

Crews are now working on removing residual smoke from the building.

No one was injured during the fire.

Officials say if the building didn’t have functioning fire sprinkler and fire alarms systems, it could have been a different outcome.

According to the facility, residents are staying at the Comfort Inn and will be back as soon as it is deemed safe.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Atlanta, GA – Sprinkler system activated for fire on 5th floor of senior living community; No injuries reported

Atlanta firefighters evacuated the fifth floor of a senior living community Thursday morning after a fire broke out inside an apartment, officials said.

The fire occurred at the Lakewood Christian Manor off Springdale Road in southwest Atlanta, battalion Chief Tony Terrell said at the scene.

“The sprinkler system kept it in check,” and firefighters were able to get inside and extinguish the blaze, Terrell said, but crews were forced to evacuate residents on that floor because of water damage.

Fire officials said it appears the small blaze began inside a closet.

“We had a basket of clothes and laundry burning inside the closet,” Terrell said, adding that the fifth floor of the high-rise sustained water damage from the apartment’s sprinkler system. No injuries were reported, but seven residents have been displaced.

While fires at senior living complexes aren’t common, Terrell said the biggest challenge is evacuating residents who are unable to get out on their own. The building is nine stories tall and houses hundreds of residents, most of whom are older or disabled.

“The rest of the residents were allowed to shelter in place because we only had smoke in the hallway where we had the fire,” he said.

Volunteers from the American Red Cross responded to the scene and are offering temporary assistance to seven residents from six units that were damaged, agency spokeswoman Sherry Nicholson said. In addition, a company was called in to remove the water from the fifth floor.

“They’re going to have to wait until all the water is cleaned up before they can return to their apartments,” Terrell said.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Pearland, TX (no media coverage) – Dryer fire at nursing home put out by single fire sprinkler

On Sunday November 15,2020 at 19:40 hours crews were dispatched to the 3400 blk of Business Center drive; a nursing home for an reported fire. Crews arrived on scene and found an active fire inside of an industrial clothes dryer. The fires progression was impeded by the activation on a single sprinkler head. The fire was contained to the drier unit with no surrounding damage. No residents were displaced from fire.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Franklin Park, IL – Fire at senior apartments extinguished by fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A ninth-floor apartment at Franklin Towers, an apartment building for seniors, caught fire Wednesday after grocery items ignited on a hot electric stove, according to the Franklin Park Fire Department.

The building’s fire alarm activated shortly before 3:30 p.m., and automatic sprinklers extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived on the scene in the 9500 block of Franklin Avenue, Franklin Park Fire Chief William Brehm said in an email.

“Residents were evacuated and evaluated for safety, but there were no injuries or transports (to the hospital),” Brehm said.

Only the apartment that caught fire was damaged, and that was limited to water damage from the sprinkler system, Brehm said. The damage was cleaned up the same day by an outside company, according to Brehm.

Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

Bettendorf, IA – Nursing home fire extinguished by fire sprinkler system

A room in the west wing of Bettendorf Health Care Center caught fire Saturday morning, leaving 11 residents relocated to new rooms and one sent the hospital.

At just after 9:30 a.m. on October 10, Bettendorf Fire Rescue was dispatched to the nursing home on Crow Creek Road in response to a structure fire. 

The fire had broken out in one room in the building’s west wing, and was easily extinguished by the sprinkler system while firefighters at the scene got residents out of the building. The fire was reportedly strong enough to trip both of the room’s sprinkler heads.

Eleven residents of the west wing have been relocated to different rooms, while one occupant was sent to the hospital for evaluation. The building’s west wing is closed for repairs due to significant water and smoke damage.