Fire threat prompts evacuation of Calhoun nursing home
Deputy Fire Chief Terry Mills said fire officials deemed a sparking fuse box a possible fire hazard and evacuated 77 patients at Calhoun Healthcare on Highway 41. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
CALHOUN, Ga. - Firefighters in Calhoun evacuated a nursing home after several "receptacles" short-circuited.
Deputy Fire Chief Terry Mills said fire officials decided to evacuate Calhoun Healthcare on Highway 41, deeming it unsafe after seeing sparks and smoke in a room.
Michael Ethridge, EMS Director at Advent Health, said nearby nursing homes agreed to take in the patients. He said first responders from multiple agencies evacuated about half of the 77 patients by around noon.
Officials asked families not to come to the nursing home and instead call Calhoun Healthcare at 470-313-8351 or 706-463-9937 to learn where their loved ones went.
Officials shut off power and utilities to the building.
Mills described the "receptacles" as places in patients' rooms where equipment plugs in.
Georgia Power and electrical inspectors are investigating what caused the sparks.