Fire displaces 16 seniors

WASILLA — Sixteen people were put up in hotels Monday night after a fire damaged the outside of Northern Comfort Assisted Living Home.

“I think we had 16 people that are clients that live there and then probably five or six staff that were there,” Central Mat-Su Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Keenan said Monday evening.

He said that the first firefighter to arrive on scene was a Butte fire officer who happened to be in the area. That officer was quickly informed that staff had gotten all of the residents out safely, Keenan said. Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele praised the staff at the facility.

“The staff there did a remarkable job getting all 16 residents out safely,” he said. “Some of then neighbors may have also helped in getting them across the street.”

It sounded like staff did a good job keeping everyone safe, he said.

On scene, crews were able to fight the flames from inside the building and contain the blaze mostly to the attic, an upstairs patio, and the outside of the building, Keenan said.

Because so many people live there the state requires the building have sprinklers, which kept the fire from spreading into the living areas of the building, he said.

“It was a good save there was some damage inside due to the sprinkler system and the firefighting streams, but it was primarily limited to water damage,” Keenan said.

He said that the Red Cross of Alaska provided help putting everyone up in hotels and that the residents were put into the care of Adult Protective Services as is standard procedure in these kinds of situations.

“We get them involved to help if there’s maybe openings in other assisted living facilities in the area,” Keenan said. “A lot of the folks in these facilities might not have family or something like that.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.