A fire at a senior living community in Arlington sent three people to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
The Arlington Plaza community near 6800 West Poly Webb Road had to be evacuated on Sunday morning during the incident.
“When I came out the front door I could see the black smoke coming up from over there,” said resident Dave Boyles.
Boyles was in his room at the independent senior living community when he heard the noise: a runner came in off the street with an urgent warning for residents.
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“They had come in the front door and they were sitting there beating on all the doors going down the hallway,” said Boyles. “So I looked out in the hallway and they said there’s a fire, there’s a fire.”
The fire alarm was pulled, and when firefighters arrived they saw the balcony of a second-floor room going up in flames.
“As we got here, noticed that it being an independent living facility with predominantly elderly patients, immediately bumped it up to a second-alarm just for evacuation purposes,” said Lt. Adam Evans with the Arlington Fire Department.
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As first responders cleared the facility, they found three patients suffering from smoke inhalation who had to be taken to the hospital.
Investigators said the flames didn’t make their way from the patio into the building but a significant amount of smoke did.
“My first reaction was, I want to make sure everybody else is alright,” said Boyles. “That’s just who I am, that’s why I joined the military.”
Boyles directed the witness who saw the fire to the building’s fire alarm.
He said in a community made up of many elderly residents, he was glad this incident didn’t turn out worse – especially after a full evacuation.
“I knew that when they did that it was going to be pretty serious,” said Boyles.
Investigators at the scene said they were still working to determine what caused the fire to break out, but say only one unit was affected.
