Local News
“The staff has been extremely cooperative, and they’re probably really the true heroes, moving patients before we even got here.”
Fire crews evacuated more than a hundred patients from a nursing home facility in Rockland after a 3-alarm fire Saturday afternoon.
The third-floor fire at Webster Park Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center on Webster Street was mostly held in check by the sprinkler system, Rockland Fire Chief Scott Duffey told reporters at the scene, but patients were affected by the “very heavy smoke condition.”
Webster Park staff began moving the 102 patients, including 22 on the third floor, before crews even arrived.
“The staff was incredibly responsive, working on removing the patients to safe areas, to the stairwells, getting them out of the smoke,” Duffey said. “The staff has been extremely cooperative, and they’re probably really the true heroes, moving patients before we even got here.”
Crews initially received the report of the fire alarm activation around 4 p.m. Saturday. The fire brought nearly a dozen agencies to the scene, including Mansfield and Scituate crews, to aid with evacuations from the facility. No patients or fire personnel were injured, Duffey said.
“It’s moving patients that are bedridden, that are elderly, a little bit less mobile than your younger population,” Duffey said. “They did need assistance coming down, mostly carrying them to the second floor, into the first floor, where they would be safe from the smoke.”
Due to water damage, the facility will be “shut down for some time,” Duffey said. An ambulance strike team relocated the patients Saturday night, according to Scituate Firefighters Local 1464, which worked with other local agencies to transport the residents.
The fire originated in a common area near the nurses’ station, Duffey said, but the cause is under investigation. The state Fire Marshal’s office identified a possible cause as an electrical event in the ceiling of a third-floor bathroom, possibly related to a ceiling fan, per WCVB.
In July, 10 people died after a fire at the Gabriel House, an assisted living facility in Fall River. The facility was criticized for not replacing recalled sprinkler heads, and residents accused Gabriel House of other safety concerns in a lawsuit.
Rockland fire completes quarterly inspections of Webster Park, Duffey said, calling it an “excellent facility” with “usually minor, little issues, nothing ever major at this facility.”
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