However, no one was injured and there was no major damage to the facility, according to David Southerland, chief operating officer for BJC Medical Center and Nursing Home.
The electrical fire started at a receptacle in room 265, Commerce Police Chief Keith Whitfield reported.
The resident was removed from the room without injury and upstairs and downstairs residents were evacuated to a community room on the first floor and to the hospital, Southerland added.
The fire department received a call at 3:42 p.m. Wednesday, Whitfield said.
“It came in as an alarm, then one of our guys called back to say they had smoke,” Whitfield added. “The nursing home staff and hospital staff did a great job; no one was injured...everything was real calm, it was not chaotic.”
Responders included Commerce fire and police departments, fire personnel from Nicholson, Maysville and Jackson County Correctional Institute, medical units and Jackson County Rescue.
Fire personnel first utilized motorized fans to clear the smoke from the air on the affected hallway, and then switched to electrical fans.
“We’re doing carbon monoxide testing on the hallway,” Whitfield said. “If that test is good, we will release it back to the hospital and they will get the temperature back down.”
Within an hour of the call, three units — A, B and C — of the nursing home had been cleared, with residents of the units allowed to return to their rooms. Alternate beds in the hospital were to be used for residents of the hallway where the fire occurred, as needed, Southerland said.
“The room should be repaired and cleaned up pretty quickly,” he said. “There was no water damage.”
Southerland agreed with Whitfield that the evacuation process went smoothly, adding that the patients, staff and fire department all responded well.
“It was kind of like a normal fire drill,” he said. “Everyone responded well…We had our whole management team here and we did what we had to do.”
As of March, Restoration Healthcare now privately owns BJC Medical Center and Nursing Home.
