About 16 residents of Shelton Lakes nursing home were evacuated from one wing of the building early Wednesday, when a malfunctioning air conditioning motor filled the building with white smoke.
No one was injured in the incident, which happened just after midnight, and brought out all four Shelton fire companies and volunteers from Ansonia and Derby.
“When the call came in, we thought it would be a little disaster,” Assistant Fire Chief Nick Verdicchio said.
The air conditioning motor had failed, sending smoke through the air vents, Verdicchio said. When crews arrived there was “floor to ceiling white, hazy smoke,” Verdicchio.
The staff at Shelton Lakes evacuated the residents to another wing, where volunteer emergency medical technicians examined them. Verdicchio said it took about an hour to locate the source of the smoke and ventilate the building.
The firefighters cut the power to the air conditioning unit so it would not continue to burn.
The wing of the building had fewer residents living there because the building is being renovated, said Brian Bedard, executive vice president for Apple Health Care, Inc., which owns Shelton Lakes.
The one-floor building is big enough to house 109 residents, Bedard said.
“The lucky part for us was that it was just smoke,” Berdard said. “There was no fire.”
Verdicchio said the Shelton Lakes staff did “a remarkable job” getting all of the residents awake and away from the smoke.
