Staff at Hatzfeld Care Home have been praised by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service for the way they handled a fire at the business on 21 February.
Well-trained staff correctly followed the emergency procedures in place, which avoided a more serious incident developing.
Hatzfeld Care Home provides specialist support for adults with complex needs including alcohol related brain disease, Asperger’s, Schizophrenia or eating disorders to age related illness or dementia.
Joint Fire Control received a call on Tuesday 21 February to a fire in a room at Hatzfeld Care Home in Blidworth.
Fire crews from Blidworth, Mansfield, Ashfield, Edwinstowe, Hucknall, Arnold and Highfields attended the incident.
There was a significant fire with a large amount of smoke coming from one of the rooms.
Staff had attempted to extinguish the fire using a fire extinguisher, but when the fire became too developed, staff followed their emergency procedures – calling 999 and evacuating residents to the nearby R.E.A.L Independent School as per their contingency plans.
The staff came together as a team and along with compliant residents, were able to evacuate everyone to a place of safety without any injuries.
Hatzfeld Care Home carry out fire safety staff training every six months, as well as carrying out regular fire safety drills. This training and the confidence of the staff proved to be invaluable as they were assured in the actions needed to take during the incident.
Hatzfeld Care Home have developed their own phone app, known as the “Hatzfeld Care App2, which is accessible by all care staff. This app provides information regarding care plans of residents and other pertinent information. This proved to be invaluable on the day of the incident as the grab bag holding residents’ information was too hot to touch from the heat of the fire.
During the incident, staff used Microsoft Teams, to maintain constant communication passing on information regarding the safety and wellbeing of residents and staff, ensuring everyone was accounted for.
Karen Kirk, Fire Safety Inspector for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We want to praise all the staff at Hatzfeld Care Home who acted quickly, professionally and in line with their well-established fire safety procedures.
“There were many vulnerable people involved and without the professionalism of the care home staff and how seriously fire safety was taken by them, we could have been facing a much more severe incident.
“This fire highlights the importance of carrying out regular fire safety training with staff and ensuring there is a clear business contingency plans in place should a fire occur.
“We encourage all businesses to review their fire evacuation plan, their contingency plans and carry out regular fire safety training. More information can be found on Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s website.”
A police investigation into the cause is still ongoing.
• Teenager sentenced after knife fight outside Nottingham College
