Nursing home residents uninjured, but some evacuated after fire extinguisher bursts

Feb. 22--GREENSBURG -- More than a dozen nursing home residents were evacuated and taken to Decatur County Memorial Hospital after a fire extinguisher fell from a wall fixture and burst, releasing chemicals into the air, fire officials said.

Greensburg Fire Capt. Andy Witkemper said no one was harmed as a result of the incident, which occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday at Hickory Creek at Greensburg, but 14 residents were taken to the hospital to be evaluated.

Hickory Creek is located at 1620 N. Lincoln St.

Witkemper said fire investigators do not know why the extinguisher fell, but said the result was that approximately a third of the building became filled with "light, powdery" chemicals that can cause respiratory irritation. This prompted staff, firefighters and EMS crews to move the residents to a safe area in the building while some patients awaited transport to the hospital.

Off-duty paramedics were called in to help, and Greensburg Community Schools buses were also used to transport residents to the hospital.

Prior to that, firefighters entered the building to make certain there was no fire and that all residents and staff inside were safe.

"When we arrived on scene there was still a lot of powder in the air," Witkemper said. "We sent some guys in to make sure there was no fire, and the residents were moved to a different location."

Fire trucks were staged in the adjacent Aldi parking lot for additional assistance if necessary. Greensburg police and Decatur County sheriff's deputies also assisted at the scene.

Witkemper said family members of Hickory Creek residents were notified of the incident, and the patients' medical records and medications were collected and sent to the hospital alongside them.

"It's a very big process," he said, expressing relief that it appeared no one would suffer any ill effects as a result of the incident.

There were 26 residents and three staff members in the building when the incident occurred.

Witkemper said he believed the residents could return to Hickory Creek at some point late Wednesday or early Thursday. He anticipated normal activities at the facility would resume by Thursday morning.

Firefighters remained at the scene until approximately 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, monitoring the building to make sure all of the chemicals had cleared and the scene was again safe.

Contact: Brent Brown 812-663-3111 x7056; brent.brown@greensburgdailynews.com

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