The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Nursing home residents re-homed after huge fire
Early indications are that blaze was not suspicious
Fifty-one elderly residents forced from their nursing home by a major fire on Monday have been re-homed.
As investigations into the cause of the blaze at Forth Bay Nursing Home in Kincardine continued yesterday, it was confirmed most of the residents have been accommodated together at a new care home in Glenrothes.
Although there were no reported casualties in the initial stages of the incident, which involved 60 firefighters, five people were later taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Staff from Forth Bay are working with the fire service to carry out a full assessment of the damage caused but it is known one section of the roof was destroyed and parts of the internal roof space had to be cut away to prevent the flames from spreading.
Early indications are there was no criminal activity involved and local rumours that a gas canister in a garage near the home exploded have not been confirmed.
A huge community effort swung into action after the fire broke out on Monday afternoon and every resident was safely evacuated before the arrival of the fire service.
Staff have been praised for their actions and generous local people thanked for providing food and clothing to shocked residents as they were temporarily put up at Kincardine Community Centre.
Neighbouring houses in the area were also evacuated as a precaution and people were advised to avoid the area.
A spokesman for the home confirmed every resident was safely evacuated and, following work with Fife Council and other professionals, temporary accommodation was found for everyone on Monday night.
“We would like to thank our dedicated staff team for their brilliant work in carrying out the evacuation so professionally,” he said.
“The health and well-being of residents is always our number one priority and the staff team acted diligently to follow the correct procedure.”
He also extended his thanks to the fire service for their prompt response and to the community for their offers of help.
Michael Kellet, Fife Council’s director of health and social care, also praised everyone involved in the recovery operation.
“The management committee members and volunteers of Kincardine Community Association, who run Kincardine Community Centre, were on site well after 10pm supporting and catering for displaced residents,” he said.
“They were also ferrying teas, coffees and food to staff at the site.”
He added: “Staff from services across the council worked until late in the evening to make sure everyone was taken care of properly and I’d like to thank them all for the dedication they have shown. Due to everyone’s swift thinking, actions and planning we very quickly had arrangements in place to manage this challenging situation.”