CORNWALL, Ontario – The 90 residents of the seniors residence Chateau Cornwall were evacuated Tuesday afternoon after the building was flooded by a leaking pipe.
The pipe was leaking on the fifth floor and compromised the building’s sprinkler system, which immediately notified Cornwall Fire Services that there was a problem.
The residents were moved to McConnell Manor, another senior’s residence managed by the same service provider, Chartwell Retirement Residences.
“This was the worst case scenario,” said Cornwall Fire Chief Pierre Voisine, who was on-site at McConnell Manor helping move the evacuated seniors. “There is water everywhere over there.”
Voisine explained that the broken pipe on the fifth floor flooded all of the floors below it. He said it quickly became obvious that the residents needed to be evacuated.
“We all got into it, we all started moving residents including myself,” said Voisine.
Voisine said there were more than 15 members of the Cornwall Fire Services involved in the evacuation, including new recruits and firefighters who were writing exams on Tuesday, even their mechanic.
Voisine said that all 90 residents were evacuated safely, including their pets.
Cornwall Transit provided buses to help evacuate the residents and Chartwell called in some school buses from Roxborough Bus Lines Ltd.
Chartwell did not have an immediate comment on when residents might be moved back into Chateau Cornwall.
“For us right now we are just focusing on the safety and well being of the residents,” said Patrick Olivieri, General Manager of McConnell Manor.
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