Officials closing probe of nursing home fire

The investigation is being closed with the cause listed as “undetermined” and “unintentional,” said Charles Scott, Nashville’s deputy fire marshal and chief investigator for the fire at NHC HealthCare Center of Nashville.

Eight people were killed in the Sept. 25 fire and another seven residents died in the months following.

A number of items removed from the home were lab tested as possible sources, including a power strip and an electric bed.

One problem in identifying the cause of the Sept. 25 fire was that evidence was burned, Scott said. Still, there were no signs that the fire was intentionally set.

“In our investigation, we can’t come across anything — maliciously, intentionally — by anyone,” he said. “It’s still an unintentionally caused fire.”

Rick King of Madison, the son-in-law of resident Margaret H. Dilbeck, 80, who died the night of the fire, said he was disappointed the probe has ended without establishing a cause.

“I personally think if someone wanted to know bad enough, they could find out,” King said.

Several civil lawsuits are pending against Murfreesboro-based National HealthCare Corp., the company that owns and operates the nursing home.

The fire spread quickly through the center, an older building that met all state codes but did not have any sprinklers in the living area.

The nursing home was exempt from a 1994 state law requiring sprinklers because it hadn’t been extensively renovated. However, National HealthCare quickly said it would install sprinklers in all its licensed nursing homes, including 10 in Tennessee.

The NHC HealthCare fire and another fire that killed five at a Maryville retirement home prompted a flurry of bills in the Legislature.

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com