Massachusetts

70 Patients Displaced After Major Water Leak at Nursing Home

The evacuation was due to a massive water leak from the roof that was under construction

Dozens of patients had to be moved after a major water leak Friday at a nursing home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Fire officials responded just after 8 p.m. and moved at least 70 patients from Bay Path Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Kingstown Way.

The leak happened on the second floor, with water leaking onto the first.

The incident left one side of the 120-bed facility uninhabitable.

"There's a tremendous amount of water coming down, the ceilings are coming down," Duxbury Fire Captain Rob Reardon said. "It's a mess in there."

Patients needed to be brought out on beds and in wheelchairs in torrential downpours, and almost 30 ambulances were used to transport them, making multiple trips.

“A large majority of these patients needed to be brought out by stretchers, bed, wheelchairs,” Reardon said.

Officials say the displaced patients were brought to other assisted living facilities across Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod.

Duxbury officials say it took around six hours to transport all of the patients. No injuries were reported.

BaneCare, which manages the home, said in a statement in part, "Now that the evacuation has been safely completed our focus remains on meeting the needs of our residents, on-site and off, as well as completing our investigation. We look forward to making all necessary repairs and returning our residents back to Bay Path once we receive town and state approval."

The cause of the leak remains under investigation, but the fire department said construction work was being done on the roof, and that it seemed to be related. BaneCare said the leak was a result of the sub-contracted construction and heavy rains.

"I called the fire department this morning I wanted to make sure what they said and they said that the left-hand side of the building was safe and secure,” said Crystal Hurley of Marshfield, whose mother is a resident in the nursing home.

Hurley’s mother is living on the left side of the building. The other side of be building is flooded and without power. However, Hurley and her husband have no complaints.

"My mom has dementia so she’s fine," Hurley said. "She doesn’t know anything is going on here. She said it’s busy here today."

The Duxbury Fire Department confirmed to NBC10 Boston that they have conducted fire fighter training drills at the facility in the past.

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