A wildfire raging in the hills above the Terraces at Park Marino senior living community in Pasadena, California, forced a dramatic evacuation of residents as flames engulfed the property. The blaze, fueled by strong Santa Ana winds, rapidly spread, prompting a race against time for staff and residents to escape the inferno.
Sharon Tanner, flushed with her $1.25 bingo winnings, retired to a room off the dining hall at the Terraces at Park Marino in Pasadena , California, to discuss the top worry for the residents council: people neglecting their laundry in the washing machines and dryers. Dinner service was about half over, and residents were gathering in the lobby for the night’s movie feature: “Scent of a Woman.
” Tanner and Carlene Sutherland, the council vice president and secretary, were discussing the laundry scofflaws when something caught their attention. High above in the surrounding hills, a fire was burning. But staff had decided they were in no immediate danger, and the women figured they were smelling a distant fire. The space was filling up with people, many of them agitated. Outside, the wind was howling. Then the power went out. Tanner was looking out a picture window toward the backyard, where she sometimes takes meals, when embers began falling from the sky “like hail.” She sat amazed as first the bushes, then a wooden fence burst into flames. Within an hour, the Terraces’ staff and residents would be in a race for their lives, walking, rolling and stumbling out into a hellscape of swirling coals in what one person called a “hurricane with flames.” Four of 15 residents in the Safe Haven wing were in hospice care. As Yesenia Cervantes, director of the memory care unit, scrambled to get people prepared to evacuate, a dark thought began gnawing at her.Deadly fires The wildfires that have ravaged the Los Angeles area since January 7 have claimed at least two-dozen lives and destroyed thousands of structures. AccuWeather, a company that provides data on weather and its impact, puts the damage and economic losses at $250 billion to $275 billion. Around 850 patients and residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes were evacuated after the blazes last week, according to the California Department of Public Health.A three-story wood and stucco building partially covered with ivy, the Terraces nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The 95 residents—ranging in age from 60 to 102—were divided between assisted living and memory care. January 7 started out just like any other Tuesday. Breakfast was served from 7-9 a.m. Then at 9:45, it was time for “Stay Fit”—what they call their chair exercises. Walking Club is usually at 10:15, but the staff decided it was too windy for the residents—many of whom, like Tanner, use a walker. After lunch, it was “Tech Hour,” where staffers helped residents with their devices, and dinner started at 4. Residents had a choice between orange chicken with rice and broccoli, or a cold shrimp salad. The 83-year-old widow and her neighbor, a 70-year-old man named Eddie, were inseparable, and also “kind of night owls” and wanted something to do after dinner, said Sam Baum, the community relations director. Soon, other residents began joining them, and “Movie Night” was born. Not long into the film, a visiting nurse came by and told staff there was a fire in the hills above. Baum decided to jump in his car and head up for a closer look. It was part of the Eaton fire, which began earlier that day and, fanned by vicious Santa Ana Winds, would eventually grow and all but obliterate the nearby community of Altadena. But when Baum stopped his car and took a look around, he didn’t see cause for alarm. There were lots of firefighters on the scene, and the blaze would have to jump a major thoroughfare and a canyon stream to get to the Terraces. Neither local nor state officials had suggested that the Terraces evacuate, says Adam Khalifa, President and CEO, Diversified Healthcare Services, which owns and operates the facility. Just the same, staff decided to begin bringing the 93 residents (two others were already in other facilities when the fire broke out) down to the lobby. They started methodically draping lanyards around each neck with badges containing the resident’s photo, name and apartment number; on the back were medical details: any conditions, cognitive deficits and “do not resuscitate” orders. Off-duty staffers began showing up to volunteer. They started calling families to let them know what was happening, and some came and picked up their loved ones. Cervantes, the memory care director, was on the phone with hospice to get some help evacuating those residents when the power went out. That’s when she saw the backyard catch fire. She and another employee grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran outside, trailed closely by Cervantes’ Pomeranian-Yorkie mix WALL-E, and put out the blaze. By 7:45 p.m., the backyard had reignited. Cervantes decided it was time to clear Safe Haven, the memory care unit. Around the same time they got an evacuation order. Some residents were still in bed. One woman who’d had a seizure earlier that day was too weak to rise; Cervantes lifted her up and put her in a wheelchair
WILDFIRE CALIFORNIA PASADENA SENIOR LIVING EVACUATION FIRE SAFETY
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