Nursing home fire kills 3, injures more
Source: Agencies |
November 19, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO fires raced through a Sydney nursing home yesterday, killing three elderly people and critically injuring 14 as firefighters crawled through blinding smoke to rescue victims.
The fires broke out in separate parts of the complex, and homicide detectives are investigating whether they were set deliberately, according to a police.
Fire service Assistant Commissioner Jim Smith said sniffer dogs would search the ruins for traces of gasoline.
A total of 88 patients were evacuated from the single-story building as firefighters searched rooms on their hands and knees for patients, many of them bedridden and suffering from dementia, fire service Commissioner Greg Mullins said.
Many of the patients were later left in the open on beds and in wheelchairs until they could be transported to alternative accommodation.
"This is a firefighter's worst nightmare," Mullins said. "Turning up to a nursing home with elderly people who cannot get themselves out of harm's way."
Flames raced through the ceiling, and part of the roof of a wing collapsed. Police confirmed three patients died, including two whose bodies remained in the charred ruins of a room where one of the fires started. The area was too dangerous for investigators to enter.
Acting Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said 32 patients were in hospitals for smoke inhalation and burns. Of these, 14 were in intensive care. Police said five of the 14 had severe burns. No staff member was injured.
Federal Minister for Mental Health and Aging Mark Butler said the nursing home's fire safety systems had met standards during an audit in July.
Firefighters described the blaze as Sydney's worst since 16 patients died in a nursing home fire in 1981.
The fires broke out in separate parts of the complex, and homicide detectives are investigating whether they were set deliberately, according to a police.
Fire service Assistant Commissioner Jim Smith said sniffer dogs would search the ruins for traces of gasoline.
A total of 88 patients were evacuated from the single-story building as firefighters searched rooms on their hands and knees for patients, many of them bedridden and suffering from dementia, fire service Commissioner Greg Mullins said.
Many of the patients were later left in the open on beds and in wheelchairs until they could be transported to alternative accommodation.
"This is a firefighter's worst nightmare," Mullins said. "Turning up to a nursing home with elderly people who cannot get themselves out of harm's way."
Flames raced through the ceiling, and part of the roof of a wing collapsed. Police confirmed three patients died, including two whose bodies remained in the charred ruins of a room where one of the fires started. The area was too dangerous for investigators to enter.
Acting Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said 32 patients were in hospitals for smoke inhalation and burns. Of these, 14 were in intensive care. Police said five of the 14 had severe burns. No staff member was injured.
Federal Minister for Mental Health and Aging Mark Butler said the nursing home's fire safety systems had met standards during an audit in July.
Firefighters described the blaze as Sydney's worst since 16 patients died in a nursing home fire in 1981.
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