Firefighters, employees honored following massive Safe Haven fire
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POCATELLO — Employees of Safe Haven Hospital Care and Pocatello firefighters were honored by the American Red Cross for the role they played in responding to a massive fire.
It was nearly midnight on Nov. 17 when a Safe Haven staff member started smelling smoke.
“He couldn’t locate where it was coming from and it was getting stronger,” says Safe Haven CEO Scott Burpee. “He immediately just pulled the fire alarm and started evacuating all the staff residents to the dining room.”
The smell was strong but flames were not visible. Smoke began leaking through light fixtures on the ceiling and all of the 49 residents, plus employees, were evacuated outside.
“These are difficult occupants – everything from physically challenged to mentally challenged – that made this complex,” Pocatello Fire Chief David Gates tells EastIdahoNews.com.
Crews quickly realized the fire was between the ceiling and the roof in attic space, but without fire sprinklers and strong winds, it became difficult to fight.
“We were very concerned about the structural collapse of the roof because of the intense fire that was up in the roof,” Gates says.
As firefighters tackled the blaze, residents were loaded onto three buses and taken to Portneuf Medical Center, where they waited in the lobby until temporary housing could be secured.
“It was kind of neat to see how everybody came together,” Burpee says. “A lot of staff heard about it and even though it was like 1 a.m., they all came to Portneuf ER.”
None of the 49 residents were injured in the fire although some did suffer from smoke inhalation.
“The crews performed flawlessly,” Gates say. “They did all the right things. They kept the right things in mind and they focused on the evacuation to get people out.”
The residents are now living at other facilities and investigators believe heat lamps may have started the fire, but an official cause has not been determined yet.
Firefighters and employees received the “East Idaho Fire Safety Hero” from the American Red Cross during a luncheon March 8.
It’s unclear what will happen to the building but one thing is for sure: things could have ended a lot differently without the fast acting Safe Haven employees and firefighters.
“I can’t say enough about the firemen,” Burpee says. “Those guys were just right there giving good guidance.”
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