Electric bed did not start fatal fire at nursing home
NASHVILLE (AP) — An electric bed did not cause the fatal fire that killed several residents of a Nashville nursing home, investigators said Wednesday.
“All mechanical and electrical components of the bed were tested, and it was determined that they did not start the fire,” the Nashville Fire Department said in a news release.
Officials decided the fire was not intentionally set, but its cause remains undetermined.
David King, an attorney for Murfreesboro-based National HealthCare Corp., which owns and operates the nursing home, said a court order prohibited him from commenting on the investigation.
Applied Technical Services in Marietta, Ga., tested the electric bed. Results from other items taken from the nursing home to be tested will be available next week.
Eight people died in the Sept. 25 fire, and another seven died in the months following. It’s difficult to verify which of the elderly residents died from complications due to smoke inhalation.
The fire ripped through the NHC HealthCare 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 fatal fire at a Maryville retirement home prompted a flurry of bills in the Legislature.
Gov. Phil Bredesen signed into law a bill requiring nursing homes to tell prospective residents if the facilities don’t have full sprinkler systems. Another pending bill would require the installation of sprinklers at more than 70 nursing homes currently without them.
Fire damage at the Nashville nursing home is still being repaired, and there are no residents living there now.
National HealthCare also operates nursing homes in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington state.
The company’s stock closed Wednesday at $21.12, up 3 cents — a sharp rebound from a few days after the fire when its stock fell to $13.83 a share.
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On the Net:
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