Third Fatal Fire in 13 Years Kills 4 at Retirement Home

A fire at a retirement home early today killed four residents and sent people in wheelchairs and pajamas into the freezing cold, authorities said. At least 21 people were hurt in the home’s third fatal blaze in 13 years.

TV news crews dropped their cameras to help rescue residents of the burning six-story Shenandoah Homes Retirement Community.

The dead were found in four rooms on the third floor, where the fire broke out about 2:30 a.m., but the blaze spread smoke to the upper floors before it was brought under control 2 1/2 hours later.

About 135 residents, some using wheelchairs and dressed only in pajamas, were evacuated in 19-degree cold to a roller skating rink, authorities said. Some were sent to hospitals, others were picked up by relatives.

“The smoke was horrible,” said Louise Dudney, 79, a sixth-floor resident sitting on a bench at the rink. “I thought I couldn’t make it but told myself I’m going to make it. I ran out and started knocking on doors.”

In 1976, a fire killed four residents at the brick building, which has no sprinkler system but is equipped with smoke detectors and fire barriers. Three months earlier, a blaze started by a dropped cigarette killed a woman.

R. C. Wilson, the retirement home chaplain, said able residents had been trained as “fire captains” or “fire assistants.”

Ottis Burgher, administrator for the home, said, “It was just a marvel how these elderly people reacted under pressure.”

Twenty-one people were taken to three hospitals, with most of them suffering from smoke inhalation, chest pains or injuries related to falling, authorities said. The injured included three firefighters and a police officer.

The condition of a patient in Roanoke Memorial Hospital’s respiratory intensive care unit was not immediately available. The other victims were reported in stable condition.