One unit of the Laramie Care Center was briefly evacuated Thursday after staff smelled smoke around 9:30 a.m. and called the fire department.

No injuries were reported.

Andrea Stannard, nursing home administrator, says staff moved the unit’s residents to another unit within four minutes. Stannard says the Care Center lost power briefly before the smoke was detected.

“One of our CNAs called myself and our safety officer to the station where the smell was occurring,” says Stannard. “We could smell what appeared to be an electrical burn.”

What they likely smelled was coming from a block away where wind had broken off the top of a tree. The treetop fell onto a power line, causing an arc and downing the power line.

“One of our staff members was in the parking lot when that happened,” says Stannard. “She said it sounded like an explosion, and immediately after that the power went out and that was when we could smell the burn.”

Police, fire and EMS units responded to the Care Center shortly after 9:30 a.m. 18th Street between Garfield and Custer was briefly shut down. 17th street was also blocked off as crews worked to repair the power line.

Stannard says no Care Center residents were impacted by the incident.

“Everybody did so well,” says Stannard. “All our staff was very reassuring, our residents were reassured that everything was going to be OK – some of them laughed and said ‘what’s next?’”

Stannard says fire department personnel were very thorough as they went through the building to check electrical panels, boiler rooms and the attic for any potential danger.

Power was restored to the Care Center around 11 a.m.

 

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