Several residents were evacuated Saturday night after lightning ignited a fire in a Houma nursing home, authorities said. Around 5:45 p.m. lightning struck the Maison De’ville Nursing Home at 107 S. Hollywood Road, sparking a fire in the attic, Bayou Cane Fire Chief Ken Himel said. The flames then activated the building’s automatic sprinkler system, which helped crews bring the fire under control in about 20 minutes, Himel said. About half of the facility’s residents were evacuated during the incident while the remaining occupants were sheltered in place. No injuries were reported.
“The sprinkler system did its job holding the fire in check until we arrived and the nursing home staff did a fantastic job evacuating and relocating residents,” Himel said. “A really bad situation was averted.”
