Some of the residents of Silver Creek Leisure Living woke to the sound of the fire alarm sounding.
At 9:30 a.m., the Bullhead City Fire Department Fire Prevention Bureau conducted a live training fire drill.
All 47 residents were being evacuated by employees in wheelchairs and walkers as fire engines rolled in. “We dispatched two ladder ocmpanies, a water tender and a heavy rescue engine, and one ambulance,” said Battalion Chief Greg Raymond.
“Had this been a real fire, we would have called for many more ambulances and assistance from Laughlin, Fort Mojave Mesa, and Mohave Valley.”
The evacuation of residents took almost as long as it did to extinguish the fire. “Our residents were very cooperative. However, they don’t move real fast,” said Gerard Fleminks owner of the three story senior living facility.
“With the elevator down, it takes a while to move everyone down the ground.”
The firefighters did find a “victim” in the resident room on the third floor where smoke had been spotted as firefighters arrived. Fire Marshal Jim Dykens played the victim and was carried down three flights of stairs and declared “fit to return to work.”
“This was a good drill for both the fire department and the residents,” said Training Division Chief Bill Kinsey. “The theatrical smoke made our firefighters work in an atmosphere that provided realistic conditions.”
The drill was called complete in less than 30 minutes and residents returned to the building.
Later in the day, a complete tactics review of the drill was conducted by Raymond to cover lessons learned.
