Old age home's residents safely evacuated after kitchen fire

A fire at an old age home in Durban’s North Beach yesterday led to an evacuation of at least 120 of its residents.

The fire was confined to one section of the building, where a chimney, from the kitchen, was burning, fuelled by the old grease and oils lining the old chimney.

Paramedics from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) together with members of the Durban fire department and Police Search and Rescue Unit were involved in the operation.

Management and staff at the home managed to safely evacuate all the residents, including the bed-ridden.

There were no injuries.

Residents were allowed to move back in the living areas after the fire fighters had extinguished the blaze, because it had only affected one section of the house.