BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Several units responded to Beckley Healthcare Center Nursing Home on Saturday following reports of an active fire.
The Bradley-Prosperity Volunteer Fire Department confirmed reports of the incident, offering the following:
“On Saturday, February 24, 2024, at approximately 09:51, the Bradley-Prosperity Volunteer Fire Department (BPVFD) was dispatched to an activated fire alarm at the Beckley Healthcare Center Nursing Home, located at 100 Heartland Drive, Beckley, West Virginia. Dispatch was copied at approximately 09:52 by BPVFD units.
At approximately 09:54, Dispatch was notified by the facility that there was a fire in the A-wing duct work, and the call was upgraded from a fire alarm to a structure fire, with Mabscott Volunteer Fire Department (MFVD) and Mount Hope Fire Department (MHFD) dispatched as automatic aid. At the request of BPVFD, Beaver Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) was also notified and requested for additional manpower, and Pax Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) was requested to move up to Bradley with additional units on standby.
The first BPVFD units arrived on-scene at approximately 10:12, and Lt. Alan McCreary assumed Incident Command. Facility staff were in the process of evacuating residents out of A-wing and into their dining facility. Upon arrival, there was no smoke or fire seen either inside or outside. BPVFD Engine 3 positioned along the front of the building and units from MHFD stretched an interior attack line into the facility for fire suppression efforts. Additional units from MHFD and MVFD arrived, and units were divided into three teams: roof, interior, and exterior.
At approximately 10:32, the roof team relayed to IC that they had located the fire inside an approximately 8″ diameter vent shaft. At that time, the roof team was able to handle initial knockdown with two water cans while the interior team was able to locate the other end of the vent shaft, which connected to the water heater in the D-wing maintenance room of the facility.
The fire was verified under control at approximately 10:55. The hot water heater was supplied by natural gas, which was shut off and red-tagged by a Mountaineer Gas technician on scene.
During this incident, 36 residents were evacuated from their rooms. Total manpower at the scene consisted of BPVFD Engine 3, BPVFD Ambulance 5, MVFD Ladder 1, MVFD Utility, MHFD Ladder 59, MHFD Engine 51, MHFD Command 5, MHFD Squad 51, 5 JanCare units, 2 Best Ambulance units, 3 Raleigh County Sherif’s Deputies, and 2 Beckley City Police Officers comprising a total of 40 first responders on scene, with additional BPVFD, BVFD, and PVFD members on standby. There were no injuries to residents, facility staff, or first responders during this incident.