74 residents back home after Naperville assisted living center gas leak
Naperville Fire Department emergency service vehicles cluster Tuesday in the parking lot of the Sunrise Senior Living of Naperville North assisted living center, where 74 residents were evacuated. (Bill Bird / Naperville Sun)
Bill Bird Naperville Sun
Seventy-four residents and 20 staff members returned Tuesday afternoon to an assisted living facility on Naperville's north side, following a natural gas leak investigators linked to a faulty clothes dryer, a Naperville Fire Department official said.
No one was injured during the incident, which was reported at 11:01 a.m. Tuesday at the Sunrise Senior Living of Naperville North assisted-living center, 535 W. Ogden Ave., across the street from Naperville North High School.
Bureau Chief Amy Scheller said the residents and employees were inside the facility when an odor of natural gas was reported in a 911 call.
Ten firefighter-paramedics were initially sent to the scene and arrived at the center within four minutes of the call, Scheller wrote in a statement.
They quickly "identified an increased level of natural gas and CO throughout the first floor," Scheller said. Firefighters and Sunrise employees "coordinated the safe relocation of all residents within the building, until further investigations could be completed," she said.
"Several residents were relocated, to be with family members during the incident," and the remaining residents and staff members sent to nearby facilities, Scheller said.
"The source of the leak was attributed to a commercial, gas fed dryer located on the first floor" of the building, Scheller said. Nicor Gas employees who were called to the center "identified and removed two other gas dryers from service for venting issues," she said.
A Naperville Fire Department truck sits Tuesday afternoon in the lot outside the Sunrise Senior Living of Naperville North assisted living center, 535 W. Ogden Ave., following trouble with a boiler that prompted the evacuation of the center's 74 residents. (Bill Bird / Naperville Sun)
Scheller said the emergency ended at 4:03 p.m., with "the building turned over to management." Residents were then allowed to return, she said.
A total of 13 firefighter-paramedics and eight vehicles were sent to the scene. Scheller added the Illinois state fire marshal's office "was notified and will follow up this week" on the situation.
Sunrise spokeswoman Heather Elliott, in a statement issued earlier Tuesday, confirmed the gas leak led to the evacuation of the facility.
"As always, our number one priority is the safety and comfort of our residents and team members," Elliott said.
The center is one of two Sunrise facilities in Naperville, the other being on East Chicago Avenue, east of the city's downtown area.The company website indicated both centers offer "a variety of care, including assisted-living, short-term stays, coordination of hospice care (and) care for (those with) Alzheimer's and dementia.