Oct. 09--ORANGE -- Firefighters rescued 15 people from balconies at a retirement home after a 5-alarm fire erupted this afternoon.
The fire broke out at The Palmyra shortly before 1 p.m.
In addition to the rescues, the building, at 301 S. Glassell, was evacuated. About 70 residents have been temporarily displaced.
Of the 15 people rescued, five were treated for smoke inhalation and three of them were taken to a local hospital, said Orange Fire Capt. Casey Fieldhouse.
One unit was completely damaged by the fire, Fieldhouse said. The corner apartment, as seen from the street, had broken windows and a blackened exterior.
About 100 firefighters responded, including those from the Orange County Fire Authority and other agencies. Fieldhouse said thefirefighters used ladders to rescue people on balconies.
Jaye Thomsen, 94, called the fire department after the blaze broke out in a nearby unit.
"I looked out my door, and I couldn't see a thing," she said.
She was among those rescued, climbing down the ladder from her second-floor unit with one firefighter below her and one above her.
"I've been a first responder all my life, so I wasn't too afraid," said Thomsen, who said she once was a Red Cross nurse.
After the fire was out, Red Cross workers assisted residents gathered on the lawn of Calvary Temple church across the street. Neighbors had brought chairs for residents, many of whom must use walkers or canes.
Sheri Ledbetter, who lives across the street and a few doors down from The Palmyra, said she initially didn't think much of hearing sirens, since it's not unusual for an ambulance to go to the nursing home. But the sirens intensified, and she smelled smoke, she said.
"Then we came out and we saw the smoke. And literally the sirens didn't stop for like 30 minutes," Ledbetter said. Trucks were just coming, coming, cops, ambulances."
Firefighters knocked down the blaze in 20 minutes and extinguished it in an hour.
Residents of the retirement home would have to stay with friends and family for the night, or the Red Cross would find accommodations for them, Fieldhouse said.
"I don't have my medication or anything with me," Thomsen said, "and they say we can't get back there for a couple of days."
In addition to the city of Orange Fire Department and the fireauthority, agencies responding included Garden Grove, Fullerton and Anaheim.
It was not immediately known what started the fire.
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