The 75 elderly people affected by the fire that broke out on Wednesday afternoon at a nursing home in Darque, in Viana do Castelo, returned yesterday to the institution after spending the night at the nursery. The director, Father Xavier Moreira, confirmed that the institution has sufficient spaces to accommodate the elderly without the need to send them to other institutions.
The fire started from maintenance work on the laundry pipe and destroyed about six rooms, both in the Residential Facility for Elderly People and in the Continuing Care unit. The dining hall was also affected by the water used by the firefighters in fighting the flames, but staff and volunteers cleaned during the night.
The fire caused no injuries among staff or residents. The children from the nursery, where the elderly were transferred, stayed some at home and others in rooms made available by the Carteado Mena school, near the institution. By 8:10 PM, all 75 elderly people, 33 from the nursing home and 42 from continuing care, were already accommodated at the nursery.
Father Xavier Moreira, who returned from vacation to the municipality, emphasized the readiness of the staff in applying the lessons from the drills carried out at the institution and the speed of intervention by the firefighters. The fire broke out at 4:16 PM and was reported extinguished at 4:49 PM.
