A nursing home in Spring Valley, New York was seen engulfed in flames in the middle of the night in late March. The facility, which is home to around 200 people, was caught on film by a nearby neighbor.
Mark Kennedy took to Twitter, tweeting a video the fire at around 2:57 a.m. He said, “Never seen anything like this, fire raging building totally destroyed.”
Never seen anything like this, fire raging building totally destroyed. pic.twitter.com/VnAMicMgxJ
— Mark Kennedy (@RealMarkKennedy) March 23, 2021
Apparently the fire started on Tuesday, March 23, at around 1:40 a.m. at the facility with address at Evergreen Court Home for Adults, located on Lafayette Street. The residents were forced to evacuate to another location in the wee hours of the morning.
Another media outlet, the Jewish Belaaz, also tweeted their own video of the fire, as the building continued to blaze and a portion seemingly falls to the ground too.
https://twitter.com/TheBelaaz/status/1374253709929107467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1374253709929107467%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthemindunleashed.com%2F2021%2F03%2Fmassive-inferno-rips-through-200-person-new-york-nursing-home.html
The fire was so big that it could actually be seen from miles away. Even the New York City Fire Department, as well as a chopper, were requested on the scene to assist with the giant blaze. In fact, one witness even claimed that the building had been on fire for at least two hours when there was an explosion and a portion finally came crumbling down.
In the early hours of the fire, a news anchor for WCBS, Steve Scott, tweeted that they didn’t believe anyone had been hurt in the fire at the assisted living facility. He tweeted, “No injuries reported in massive fire this morning at the Evergreen Home for Adults, a nursing home in Spring Valley, NY. All seniors are safe. They’ve been moved to another facility.”
It was about 3 am when the rescued residents had been brought to another location, the Golden Acre Rest Home located at 11 Prospect Street, also in Spring Valley.
Update: These seniors were evacuated about an hour ago from the Evergreen nursing home in Spring Valley, they were taken to to the Golden Acre Rest Home at 11 Prospect Street in Spring Valley.
They are safe and are out of harms way. pic.twitter.com/U2ZSd6AdkC
— Benny Polatseck (@BPolatseck) March 23, 2021
Another Twitter user, @BPolatseck, shared a bit later on, “Update: These seniors were evacuated about an hour ago from the Evergreen nursing home in Spring Valley, they were taken to the Golden Acre Rest Home at 11 Prospect Street in Spring Valley. They are safe and are out of harms way.”
Update: These seniors were evacuated about an hour ago from the Evergreen nursing home in Spring Valley, they were taken to to the Golden Acre Rest Home at 11 Prospect Street in Spring Valley.
They are safe and are out of harms way. pic.twitter.com/U2ZSd6AdkC
— Benny Polatseck (@BPolatseck) March 23, 2021
Unfortunately, the news would change not too long after when New York State Troop F’s Public Information Officer, Steven Nevel, reported to The Sun, “I can confirm that there is one deceased.”
Soon enough, more agencies had come to help deal with the fire and the effects of the blaze. In fact, a number of firefighters were also injured in the fire, another supposedly had a heart attack but that was not confirmed, while the first report shared that 100 people were rescued from the fire, despite the fact the facility could house 200 residents. But it was later reported by CNN that it was only 20 to 25 residents.
Rockland County fire coordinator, Chris Kear, reported to CNN, “We’re still working to account for all the other residents that were rescued and taken from the building.”
While Kear explained that they believed that “most are accounted for,” the building itself is a “total loss” and the entire ordeal is a “Very difficult fire to battle right now.”
While multiple agencies were there to help, including 23 of the 26 fire departments located in Rockland County, Hershey Green, a Spring Valley resident, told WCBS that he and other witnesses “literally ran in and helped out with the seniors,” even though the fire was still ongoing.
He went on to say, “There was plenty of just good Samaritans out here, about eight of them that literally ran into the building and bring them out in the wheelchairs, walkers, and literally picking them up and physically removing them out of the danger.”
“They were speechless. It was really traumatic to see that. Watching their facility, their home going down in flames was something really traumatic,” he added.
Unfortunately the day after the fire, one of the firefighters that had bravely fought the blaze alongside, 35-year old Jared Lloyd, others was found dead. Apparently had had attempted to rescue someone from the third floor, issuing a mayday call.
According to Kear, “With the extent of the fire and the volume of fire, the conditions were just too unbearable where firefighters went in, and they just could not locate the firefighter, and they had to back out.”
Aside from Lloyd, there was only the one other resident that had perished in the fire, while another 13 were injured with one still in critical condition. As for the fire fighters, another two were hospitalized and still recovering from their injuries.
Until now, no one knows what caused the fire to begin with. The director of Evergreen Court Home, Denise Kerr, eventually released a statement saying that the fire was “an unspeakable tragedy.”
She added, “We join the community in mourning the loss of our resident who passed away and pray for the safety of the missing firefighter.”
She also praised the staff and other first responders to the fire for helping get their residents to safety, “Our staff was truly heroic in evacuating residents who were inside the building as the fire spread, and we are forever grateful to the first responders whose actions undoubtedly saved lives.” They hope to eventually get to the bottom of what caused the fire to ignite.
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