Published: August 06, 2008 11:51 pm      

Flooding forces Golden Living evacuation

Nearly 100 residents at a Richland Township assisted-living facility were evacuated early Wednesday when a sprinkler-system malfunction flooded the home.

In all, 93 residents of the Golden Living Center were moved by ambulances and a bus to the nearby Greater Johnstown Christian Fellowship Church along Elton Road.

“Everything went smoothly,” Richland Assistant Fire Chief Jason Ober said.

“There was no confusion, no sense of panic. Nobody had to be transported to a hospital.”

Later in the day, the residents were relocated temporarily to other facilities until Golden Living can be reopened, said Denise Curry, the facility’s director of operations. Memorial Medical Center, Select Specialty Hospital in downtown Johnstown and Windber Hospital each accepted some residents, she said.

“Our staff is being redeployed to

take care of them,” Curry said. “We

want to make them as comfortable as possible. The nice thing is they’re still getting good care.”

Golden Living staff workers were notifying residents’ families and physicians of the evacuation and keeping them updated, she said.

“Everything went very well and according to plan,” she said. “We practice for a disaster at least once a year. We were very prepared.”

Curry was unsure how soon Golden Living would be reopened for the residents to return. The facility will be working with the state Department of Health and other agencies on the reopening, she said.

Ober said the home’s alarm system went off at 3:26 a.m. when a water main feeding the sprinkler system broke. The alarm automatically alerted firefighters and emergency responders.

The break happened in a closet in a mechanical room. The water, which spread throughout the one-story facility, was between 3 inches and a foot deep, Ober said.

Emergency medical services from both Cambria and Somerset counties responded.

The Cambria County Transit Authority sent a bus to help transport the residents, and McQuaide Freight Lines sent a truck to move medical equipment to the church.

Ron Springer, Cambria County’s emergency management director, also was at the scene to help in the evacuation.

Because the situation was not a grave emergency such as a fire, Ober said responders did not have to rush the residents out of the facility. He estimated the evacuation took about three hours.

“It was a good collaborative effort,” Ober said.