Jan. 15--ICARD -- Three residents at an area nursing home were hospitalized after a small blaze, officials said.
Nurses at Carolina Rehab Center of Burke, 3647 Miller Bridge Road, called 911 shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday to report that a resident's bed had caught fire, according to Icard Fire Chief Brand Lingerfelt.
Nurses were able to get both of the room's occupants out before firefighters arrived, he said. Once emergency personnel were on scene and had the fire extinguished, they had to move a number of patients across the facility because of smoke.
Lingerfelt said some patients had to be moved in their beds, while others where wheeled down the hall. Some were able to walk across the building on their own.
The resident whose bed caught fire was airlifted to the burn unit at Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte, Lingerfelt said. Two others were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
The fire chief said the building sustained no fire damage and that only the bed and some personal items were destroyed.
Lingerfelt said three fire departments -- Icard Fire and Rescue, Drowning Creek Fire and George Hildebran Fire and Rescue -- responded to the blaze, which he said is typical for a reported structure fire. Also responding was the Burke County Sheriff's Office, Burke County EMS, Catawba County EMS and Burke REACT.
The cause of the fire is undetermined; the Burke County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating.
