N.C. Rest Home Fire Kills 8; Faulty Outlet Is Blamed

A fire blamed on sparks from an electrical outlet with a missing faceplate killed eight men at a rest home, including an 85-year-old whose bed had been pushed against the socket.

“I heard him say, ‘Fire!’ ” said Otis Smith, whose roommate, Lonnie Carter, died after his bed erupted in flames. “I said, ‘Fire!’ and got out of there.”

The blaze broke out Sunday night at the Scotch Meadow Rest Home. Smoke quickly filled the men’s wing of the 60-bed home.

Two fire doors that swung shut when the alarm sounded kept the flames and most of the smoke from spreading to the rest of the one-story building. Most of the residents were evacuated swiftly.

Smith, 75, said he grabbed his walker and hobbled away from the flames. “I didn’t know I could walk that fast.” He said he saw Carter trying to crawl from their room but couldn’t help him. Carter and another victim were burned; the rest of the victims died of smoke inhalation, Sheriff Wayne Bryant said.

State inspectors were sent to gather information about the fire and the staff’s response.