Fire prompts evacuation at assisted living facility

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

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The facility's 43 residents were evacuated to a local hotel.

A St. Petersburg assisted living facility was evacuated overnight after a fire broke out in the building's laundry room.

The fire started at the Patrick Manor facility on 73rd Avenue North around 11 p.m. Monday night, filling the building with smoke and prompting the sprinkler system to activate.

Firefighters quickly put out the fire and began ventilating the building. But concerns about the amount of water on the floor forced the power to be cut off.

Staff and fire officials temporarily brought the residents into the lobby of the building before deciding to relocate them. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority buses were brought in to transfer the facility's 43 residents to an area hotel.

Overnight Fire

"They (residents) are all doing very well,'' Rick Feinberg with St. Petersburg Fire Rescue said. "There are no injuries reported. The staff did a great job of getting them out of the building and relocating the patients.''

Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze, saying only that it started in the laundry room near a gas heater.

The staff at Patrick Manor said it is unclear how long the clean up process at the facility would take, but indicated the residents could return as early as Wednesday.