NORWAY – A malfunction in an upholstered electric recliner was blamed for a small fire at the Norway Rehabilitation and Living Center on Monday afternoon. No one was injured.
About 16 patients were moved from C wing as a precaution, nursing director Patty Tisdale said.
A woman sitting in a recliner in her husband’s room smelled smoke and alerted staff, Tisdale said.
“We saw smoke coming from the back of the recliner and pulled the fire alarm,” she said.
As firefighters from Norway and Paris rushed to the scene, a certified nursing assistant trained in fire prevention grabbed an extinguisher and sprayed the chair.
“She was awesome,” Tisdale said.
Firefighters also used extinquishers on the chair before moving it outside, then ejecting smoke from the building with large fans.
Norway Fire Chief Dennis Yates said he believes there was a malfunction in the chair, which had burned fabric along the bottom in the back.
He said he conducts annual fire prevention training, including fire drills, with the staff at the center at 29 Marion Ave.
“Everything went well. Everything went as it was suppose to,” Tisdale said. “It was really not disruptive.”
She praised the CNA’s quick response and Yates for the training the department provides the staff.
“We just love him,” she said.
ldixon@sunjournal.com
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- Firefighters carry a large fan into Norway Rehabilitation and Living Center on Marion Avenue to eject smoke from a malfunctioning recliner Monday afternoon.
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- Norway Fire Chief Dennis Yates points to the burned fabric at the base of a mechanical recliner Monday afternoon outside Norway Rehabilitation and Living Center on Marion Avenue.
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- Firefighters from Paris and Norway examine the chair which started smoking in a patient’s room at the Norway Rehabilitation and Living Center in Norway Monday afternoon causing the evacuation of 16 patients from one wing.
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