Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential

De Soto, MO – Overnight fire at residential care facility extinguished by sprinkler system

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.”