Broken pipe blamed for fire call to Lewis County Nursing Home

A broken pipe in the Lewis County Nursing Home’s sprinkler system prompted a fire alarm call that brought units from the Canton and La Grange fire departments to the facility shortly in Canton shortly before 8 a.m. Friday.
Debbie Barnard, social services director at the 82-resident facility, stressed that there was never a fire.
“We did not have a fire. We had a water leak. Everything is fine. Every is under control,” she said. “We do have a mess, but we’re getting it taken care of.”
The movement of water through the facility’s sprinkler system when the pipe broke triggered the call to emergency responders at approximately 7:45 a.m., according to a spokesman at the Canton Fire Department. The spokesman estimated that approximately 20 firefighters responded to the scene after the initial call was received.
A total of six residential rooms suffered water damage, according to Barnard.
“There was no one in the rooms when it happened. Everybody was out for breakfast,” she said. “All the residents have been relocated to rooms in our facility.”
Barnard would not speculate as to the extent that personal belongings in the residents’ rooms were damaged or how long the impacted residents will be relocated to other rooms at the facility.
“That’s really hard for me to say at this time. We still have people checking out the damage and seeing what all we have to do,” she said.
Fire units remained on the scene to help with the cleanup.
Barnard said that recent temperature fluctuations may have contributed to the failure of the pipe.