Dozens of residents were evacuated after a fire broke out at North Pointe Nursing and Rehabilitation in Watauga Friday morning. No serious injuries were reported. NBC 5’s Alanna Quillen has the latest.
More than a dozen people were evacuated from a Watauga nursing home and rehabilitation center Friday morning after a fire broke out at the facility before dawn.
According to officials, the fire was reported shortly after 6 a.m. at the North Pointe Nursing and Rehabilitation Center located at 7804 Virgil Anthony Boulevard.
When firefighters arrived, they encountered heavy smoke and flames coming out of the one-story building, officials said, and that some of the patients and residents had already been evacuated by the staff.
According to the Watauga Fire Department, a second alarm was requested as firefighters worked to evacuate multiple patients from the burning facility. Departments from nine different cities responded to assist in the evacuation and care of the residents.
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In addition to being a nursing home, the facility also serves as a rehab center for people who recently had serious surgeries so many people at the facility are not mobile and are unable to flee a fire without help, fire officials said.
All of the residents in the building were evacuated. Five were transported to local hospitals because they needed specialized care. Watauga Fire officials also said some residents and officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
No deaths were reported, which families are calling the miracle of the morning.
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NBC 5 spoke to several relatives who are commending the staff and first responders for saving lives.
"Very scary, I was like, 'Oh my God … Is my mom OK?' I was starting to get really, really scared," said Vel Robertson, whose mother is a resident at the facility. "Me and my sister came down here and tried to pull in and we couldn't get through. So we were both crying in the car and just running, and saw all the fire trucks."
Officials said the fire occurred on the exterior of the south side of the building. The southeast side is where most of the damage occurred.
The staff at North Pointe posted an update on social media, adding that residents whose rooms were located in the damaged areas are being temporarily moved to unaffected parts of the campus.
Investigators spent much of Friday morning working to determine the cause of the fire, which remains unknown at the time of this writing.
North Point said late Friday morning that cleanup had already begun and that repair work to the facility is expected to take about 10 days.
