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CNN Live Today
Nursing Home Fire
Aired February 26, 2003 - 11:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Unfortunately, this is a story of another tragic fire in New England. Connecticut police are questioning a potential suspect this morning after a blaze whipped through a nursing home overnight. Ten people were killed in the incident.
CNN's Jason Carroll checks in from Hartford. He's got the very latest for us.
Hello, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Leon.
As you said, for the second time in less than a week, people here in the Northeast having to deal with yet another tragic fire. This one happening at the facility that you see behind me, the Greenwood Health Care Center. The fire was located in the southeast section of the building right there where you see the red tarp. As you said, 10 people were killed in the fire, nine have been identified. Some of the deceased still inside the building there, 23 people hospitalized, 10 at this point in critical condition.
Just to recap what happened this morning, the fire broke out early this morning at about 10:30 a.m. Fire started in one of the patient's rooms, and as I said, it was confined to the southeast section of the building, the fire spreading very quickly. Many of the patients here at the facility, 148 of them, inside. Many of them were mobilely impaired, so it was very difficult to evacuate. Some of the people here talked about what they saw and what they heard shortly after the fire broke out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Couldn't see. There was so much smoke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw them wheeling them out like one to the street, one to this ambulance near my apartment window, then they had another one they brought in the same ambulance, in a wheelchair, one in a bed, and to this ambulance, then I saw them wheeling them out to the streets. It's freezing. It's horrific. Extremely cold. I couldn't imagine. I thought of the worst. So that's why I rushed out here and just came out to see what was going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: At this point, everyone at the home has been accounted for. Fire officials are labeling this particular fire as suspicious. And as you said, they do at this point have one person in custody. That person being questioned. We are told the person being questioned is a female patient here at the facility.
We did speak with someone from the state attorney's office. This representative telling us that this facility, like the facility that we saw up in Rhode Island, strangely enough did not have a sprinkler system. That definitely would have made a difference in how this whole thing turned out. But also like the situation that we saw up in Rhode Island, sprinkler system not required here at this facility -- Leon.
HARRIS: That's tragic. Thanks, Jason. Jason Carroll reporting live from Hartford, Connecticut.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 26, 2003 - 11:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Unfortunately, this is a story of another tragic fire in New England. Connecticut police are questioning a potential suspect this morning after a blaze whipped through a nursing home overnight. Ten people were killed in the incident.
CNN's Jason Carroll checks in from Hartford. He's got the very latest for us.
Hello, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Leon.
As you said, for the second time in less than a week, people here in the Northeast having to deal with yet another tragic fire. This one happening at the facility that you see behind me, the Greenwood Health Care Center. The fire was located in the southeast section of the building right there where you see the red tarp. As you said, 10 people were killed in the fire, nine have been identified. Some of the deceased still inside the building there, 23 people hospitalized, 10 at this point in critical condition.
Just to recap what happened this morning, the fire broke out early this morning at about 10:30 a.m. Fire started in one of the patient's rooms, and as I said, it was confined to the southeast section of the building, the fire spreading very quickly. Many of the patients here at the facility, 148 of them, inside. Many of them were mobilely impaired, so it was very difficult to evacuate. Some of the people here talked about what they saw and what they heard shortly after the fire broke out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Couldn't see. There was so much smoke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw them wheeling them out like one to the street, one to this ambulance near my apartment window, then they had another one they brought in the same ambulance, in a wheelchair, one in a bed, and to this ambulance, then I saw them wheeling them out to the streets. It's freezing. It's horrific. Extremely cold. I couldn't imagine. I thought of the worst. So that's why I rushed out here and just came out to see what was going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: At this point, everyone at the home has been accounted for. Fire officials are labeling this particular fire as suspicious. And as you said, they do at this point have one person in custody. That person being questioned. We are told the person being questioned is a female patient here at the facility.
We did speak with someone from the state attorney's office. This representative telling us that this facility, like the facility that we saw up in Rhode Island, strangely enough did not have a sprinkler system. That definitely would have made a difference in how this whole thing turned out. But also like the situation that we saw up in Rhode Island, sprinkler system not required here at this facility -- Leon.
HARRIS: That's tragic. Thanks, Jason. Jason Carroll reporting live from Hartford, Connecticut.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
