Evacuation after blaze at care home
Crews were called to Norfolk House in Springfield at around 9.10pm on Saturday after a blaze broke out in one of the bedrooms.
The incident caused serious damage to the first-floor room and firefighters had to work quickly to prevent the fire spreading into other rooms.
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Hide AdThe residents at the Norfolk Street home had to be evacuated and alternative accommodation had to be arranged as the upstairs smelled of smoke.
Firefighters praised local residents who invited elderly people into their homes so they did not have to spend hours in the cold outside.
Hindley fire station watch manager Pete Johnson said: “It was really nice to see members of the public pulling together to help elderly people.
“They were initially all sat in the cold and we had the pressure fans on so it was quite a traumatic experience for them.
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Hide Ad“About 11 residents needed somewhere to wait and they were all taken in by neighbours. There were lots of biscuits and cups of tea being passed around, it was a great community effort.”
The cause of the blaze is still unknown.
The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) attended the scene and gave all the residents a check-up but it is not thought anyone had to go to hospital.
Four fire engines from Wigan, Hindley and Atherton stations attended the blaze and the last crews did not leave the scene until around 11.20pm.
Crew commander Mike Fairhurst from Wigan fire station said: “The bedroom was quite severely damaged. We sent crews in and they managed to stop the fire spreading any further and contained it within the room, they did a really good job.
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Hide Ad“There was also smoke damage to the upstairs floor. The damage is not actually that bad but the place is going to be out of action for a while and all the residents have been rehoused.”
The residents were moved to The Old Rectory care home in Standish, which has the same owners as Norfolk House.