kearupdate
(Spring Valley, NY/77WABC)-Fire officials say one resident off The Evergreen Court For Adults on Lafayette Street in Spring Valley, NY is dead, a firefighter who issued a mayday is believed trapped in the fire rubble and another resident is missing. The fire broke out just before 1 am. A worker at the facility called the Spring Valley Police Department to report the fire at approximately 12:50 am.
Rockland County Fire Co-Ordinator Chris Kear held a second press briefing at the scene around 11 am. He said one of two firefighters injured has been released from Hackensack Universit Medical Center. The other firefighter will remain hospitalized overnight at Westchester County Medical Center. A search continues for the missing resident and the missing firefighter. Kear said it is believed the firefighter became lost on the third floor of the facility.
Firefighters and other EMS personnel rescued 20 to 25 residents from the facility. Kear said ten residents were taken to area hospitals.
Kear described the rescue effort upon his arrival; “there were just people pouring out of the building, ‘ya know police officers, firemen, ‘ya ‘ya know helping people out carrying people out, going back in getting more people.” He said it’s “your worst nightmare,” it’s not your typical house fire where you have five or six people, we’re talking about a building with one hundred or more people.
The assisted living facility collapsed due to the fire, with officials describing it as completely destroyed.
Kear’s 11 am update is below:
He called the work Emergency Services did treating and triaging residents “herculean.”
The brothers in Rockland County have been battling this Nursing Home fire in Spring Valley. Maydays were transmitted. We hope all are OK. pic.twitter.com/2uzOwb5RIm
— NYCFireWire (@NYCFireWire) March 23, 2021
Several residents were placed on a bus and transported to the Golden Acre Rest Home at 11 Prospect St. in Spring Valley, NY.:
Massive explosion and fire at the Evergreen nursing home in Spring Valley, NY. Thanks to @ChaverimRocklnd we were able to help evacuate some residents, if you are trying to locate loved ones, here are some of the seniors whom we evacuated about an hour ago. pic.twitter.com/rN7fn0HC0t
— Benny Polatseck (@BPolatseck) March 23, 2021
State investigators from Albany, NY are on scene to assist in the investigation into the cause of the fire.
All but three of the 26 fire departments in Rockland County responded to the fire.
NY State police have been called to the scene with a K-9 unit.
