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Nursing home fire offers lessons for all of us
Oct 24, 2015

In July of this year, a fire broke out at a nursing home in Spain, outside of the northeastern city of Zaragoza, killing eight elderly residents and injuring another 12 people. What we do know about the fire is that it started in a first-floor bedroom in the three-story building. The occupant of the bedroom where the fire started died, along with a resident in the next bedroom and some above the room of origin. In this tragic situation, there are some lessons for all of us.

Our first lesson may be that of elderly folks. Unfortunately, the older we get the less we are able to move about as well as we once did. This limitation needs to be considered when we plan out our living situation. We need to consider if we are able to get out without assistance or can we get that assistance if needed, by caregivers. If we are on upper floors, are there safe places of refuge that we can go to without taking stairs all the way down? Some buildings have fire-enclosed stairways (stairwells) or rooms with high fire ratings where people can safely stay as they await for firefighters to evacuate them.

Our next logical step in the lessons learned is alerting. Every building should have a way of notifying occupants about dangerous situations that require evacuation. Your home smoke alarms serve this function, and may only sound at the smoke alarm itself or all throughout your house, if they are interconnected. In larger buildings, you may also have alarms that serve the same function, and can do so with a bit more detail, depending on the type of alarm system installed. My point here is that you should become familiar with the alarm system in the buildings you frequent, or have loved ones in.

Another problem I want to discuss is smoking. While there is no proof that smoking was the cause in the fire in Spain, let’s consider the possibility. Smoking is a dangerous thing to do, and it is the No. 1 killer in this country when it comes to fire deaths. If the nursing home resident was smoking, you have a building full of elderly folks to consider. Smoking in bed runs the risk of the smoker falling asleep and lighting the bedding and mattress on fire, which then can quickly spread to other combustibles in the room. In a nursing home, many of the elderly take medications, and some of those medications may be designed to help the person sleep through the night. Smoking while sleepy, or taking sleep medication, runs the same risk.

Take the time to check these items out if you, or a loved one, have any limitations due to health issues or old age. Places of refuge, employee fire training and evacuation are drills that should be documented at the housing facility, and a check on smoking policies and the number of smokers and where they can smoke should all be available for you to look at. When it comes to choosing a nursing or care facility, take the time to ask questions relating to fire safety and preparedness before choosing to have your loved one become a resident. Their response to your questions will either promote confidence or cause concern ... you’ll know then what to do next.

Shadd Whitehead is chief of Livonia Fire & Rescue.


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IAFF Local 1164
14910 Farmington Rd.
Livonia, MI 48154
  7344662444

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