Fire officials respond to fire at Bayside assisted living facility

BAYSIDE (WITI) -- North Shore Fire officials responded to a fire at an assisted living facility in Bayside Monday afternoon, February 18th.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., the Bayside Communications Center received a 911 call reporting a fire on the second floor of the Elizabeth Residence at 9279 N. Port Washington Rd. in Bayside.

Fire and Law Enforcement units were dispatched immediately. Given the dispatch information and the potential for an extensive rescue operation, (due to the large elderly and disabled population at the facility) the on duty shift commander requested that the incident be upgraded to bring additional resources to the scene immediately.

Bayside Police units arrived on the scene first and officers reported that there was heavy smoke coming from a unit on the second floor of the facility. The first North Shore  Fire/Rescue unit arrived on scene a short time later. It was quickly determined that the fire was extinguished by the automatic sprinkler system in the structure, however there was still significant smoke in several of the corridors.

Using a unified command structure, the fire and law enforcement incident commanders along with the facility staff set up a command post to coordinate the safe evacuation and accountability of all of the staff and residents in the structure at the time of the fire. All occupants present at the time of the fire were accounted for.

There were no injuries to any of the occupants of the structure or any of the fire or law enforcement personnel operating at the scene.

Fire companies were able to access and secure the sprinkler shut-off to stop the flow of water into the unit; however, a significant amount of water had already been dispensed by the system during the extinguishment of the fire. There is moderate fire damage to the kitchen and water and smoke damage to the area surrounding the affected unit is extensive.

Following an investigation, the origin of the fire was determined to be the kitchen within a second floor unit in the structure. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. The damage estimate to the structure and contents is approximately $50,000.

The properly functioning sprinkler system prevented further fire spread and potentially saved lives and further property damage.