Nursing home wing destroyed by fire

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

No Pioneer Manor residents were hurt in a fire that destroyed a wing in the old section of the city-run nursing home Thursday night.

Nursing home staff acted quickly to evacuate 168 of the facility's 392 residents to other parts of the building. Seventy-six residents went home with their families for the night. City and Handi Transit buses were on hand in case the building had to be completely evacuated.

The fire started on the roof of the facility's Boreal Youth wing. The area is occupied by younger residents who require nursing care.

Because the blaze was “stubborn,” firefighters were eventually forced to bring in an excavator and tear down that part of the building, according to acting fire chief Marc Leduc.  

 view more photos

Leduc doesn't know for sure what caused the blaze, but said he's looking into the possible role of contractors who were using propane torches on the roof while doing renovations. The fire marshal has launched an investigation, he said.

The fire department was called in at 4:30 pm and they weren't able to put out the fire until 5 am, nearly 12 hours later, he said.

“We had to use several tactics to keep the fire from extending. Several trenches were cut on the roof to limit the extension, and even at that we weren't confident that the fire wouldn't extend into some of the other portions of the lower building,” said Leduc.

“We brought in an excavator to rip part of the burnt building down. It acted as a fire break, which allowed us to get that fire extinguished by 5 am. Otherwise we would still be here until late this afternoon."

Fifty-seven firefighters were involved in putting out the blaze, and two of them were sent to hospital with minor injuries, he said.

Smoke could still be smelled in the air in parts of the building Friday morning, although carbon monoxide levels were reportedly normal. Outside, the charred remains of the Boreal Youth wing were dripping with water. Several fire trucks and firefighters were still on the scene.

Fans were brought in to remove smoke from the rest of the building. There is also extensive smoke damage in the Boreal Place wing, which is adjacent to the fire-gutted Boreal Youth wing.

“It was a rough night for everyone, but thanks to the work of the staff, the EMS crews, the city transit, volunteers and families, we got through the evening without any problems,” said Catherine Matheson, the city's general manager of community development.

Pioneer Manor was already at capacity before the fire, so the facility might be a bit crowded for awhile, she said.

“We were under tight circumstances, and now we're under tighter circumstances,” said Matheson. “In the end, we feel there will be about 24 people that will need to be relocated. It may be inside the building or outside the building.”

Dr. Moe St. Martin, who provides medical care for 180 of the nursing home residents, was on the scene last night. Two residents were brought to the hospital because of conditions not related to the fire, he said. Otherwise, his patients are fine.

He's impressed that staff were able to keep the residents calm, especially since about 80 percent of the residents have some form of dementia.

“I was so surprised at how calm they were and how well cared for they were. But that's the strength of having staff that knows them and stayed with them. If you had re-located them to another area, it would have potentially been much more serious.

The fire was spectacular, with flames leaping 20 feet in the air, he said.

“We were prepared for evacuation. We were on pins and needles from about 10 to 11:30 pm, because we weren't sure if we had to evacuate,” he said.

“In that case, 300 plus people would have had to move to the taxation data centre.”