Almost 90 residents living at an assisted-living facility in Colorado have been left homeless after an explosion inside the building.
On Wednesday, crews from the Denver Fire Department responded to reports of a structure fire at the Eastern Star Masonic Retirement Campus. However, the department later revealed that the incident had been a “transformer fire” caused by construction work and that an explosion had taken place inside the care home.
The explosion sent eight people to the hospital. Two other residents were evaluated but cleared by emergency workers.
“Earlier today, during construction work at the facility, a power line was accidentally struck, which contributed to an explosion and subsequent transformer fire,” Denver Fire wrote on X. “@Denver_Fire responded quickly and worked tirelessly to mitigate the situation. We will ensure the safety of all.”
The department stated that another 87 people had been displaced in the incident. Residents were transported to another, unspecified location and were not immediately allowed to go back inside.
Denver fire spokesperson Luis Cedillo told Fox31, that the process of extracting residents from the building was made trickier by the fact that many had disabilities.
“One of the things that makes it really hard for us is we have to make sure that people are safe, especially when you’re dealing with people with disabilities and they can no longer self-extricate, it takes us a little bit longer to assist them out of the building,” Cedillo said.
Resident Barbara Hinchey, who has lived at the retirement campus for two years, told Fox31 that the facility does emergency drills about once a month.
“There was an explosion and I felt it, but it didn’t affect my room and the alarm went off,” she told the outlet. “The paramedic went back to get my medications, and I had to tell them there were four places, and he went and got them all.”
Hinchley will now stay with her daughter, Susan Johnson, who was one of many family members who came to collect their relatives in the aftermath of the explosion on Wednesday, and praised the response of authorities.
“They worked so hard and so fast, they got everybody out,” Johnson said. “I knew she was in really good hands and that she would be safe. But, it’s really scary. I’m just so blessed that we live right down the street.”
The facility reportedly remained closed on Thursday.
