Nursing home fires turn out to be all wet
Firefighters kept busy Saturday with what were initially thought to be fires at nursing homes.
Firefighters were dispatched to a “fire” at NHC Healthcare of Desloge Saturday morning. It turned out the sprinklers hadn’t been set off for a fire. Desloge Chief Larry Gremminger said instead, a water pipe that froze ruptured, flooding part of the nursing home. A wing of the nursing home was evacuated to another part of the building.
Firefighters assisted staff with mopping up the water.
While Desloge firefighters were still at that nursing home, another “commercial fire” was dispatched at Country Meadows nursing home in Park Hills. It was soon discovered the same thing occurred at that nursing home.
Chief Rick Whaley believes a two-inch water line in the building broke and flooded the nursing home, causing extensive water damage. Residents were moved to another part of the home while staff and firefighters worked to clean up the mess.
On Friday, a man who was trying to thaw out his frozen pipes accidentally started a fire.
According to Terre Du Lac Police, a man was under his trailer with a torch trying to unthaw his pipes. A fire started and destroyed the Hackworth family’s trailer on Rue Chateau. The family have two children. The American Red Cross was contacted to assist them.
