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Huge blaze and roof COLLAPSE at New York nursing home kills one resident and leaves multiple injured at 200-bed facility

  A huge fire has broken out at a nursing home in New York, forcing a mass evacuation of its elderly residents. One person is believed to ha...

 A huge fire has broken out at a nursing home in New York, forcing a mass evacuation of its elderly residents. One person is believed to have died and multiple injured.

Fire and rescue were on the scene at the 200-capacity Evergreen nursing home in Spring Valley, where the roof collapsed following an explosion.  

According to ABC7 news, authorities said that one resident had been killed after being transported to the hospital, and that multiple residents had been injured. 


A number of others remain unaccounted for, and there were approximately 113 residents living in the home at the time of the fire, according to a spokesperson for Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who spoke to NBC New York.

Between 20 to 25 residents were rescued by firefighters, an unknown number were injured and authorities are still working to account for others, ABC7 said.

CNN meanwhile said a firefighter was also unaccounted for, and that another suffered a heart attack and was being treated at a nearby hospital.

A large fire has broken out at a nursing home in New York, with multiple people trapped. Fire and rescue are on the scene at Evergreen Nursing Home in Spring Valley, where the roof has reportedly collapsed

A large fire has broken out at a nursing home in New York, with multiple people trapped. Fire and rescue are on the scene at Evergreen Nursing Home in Spring Valley, where the roof has reportedly collapsed

A large fire has broken out at a nursing home in upstate New York, with multiple people trapped
Fire and rescue are on the scene at Evergreen Nursing Home in Spring Valley, where the roof has reportedly collapsed

Fire and rescue are on the scene at the 200-capacity Evergreen nursing home in Spring Valley, where the roof has collapsed following an explosion.

The fire continued to burn for more than five hours after flames broke out around 1:40 a.m. on Tuesday, with videos showing a huge blaze ripping through the building.

The New York Fire Department and Hatzolah were on the scene where there was a 'massive explosion', according to Orthodox Jewish media outlet Belaaz. 

An eyewitness told Insider the building had been engulfed in flames for around two hours before the explosion caused part of it to cave in on itself. 

First responders were seen evacuating people from inside the building, with the cause of the blaze currently unknown.

Hershey Green, a resident of Spring Valley, told WCBS that when people saw the flames, he and others ran in to help residents. 

People 'literally ran in and helped out with the seniors,' Green told the outlet as flames continued to burn in the building behind him. 

'There was plenty of just good Samaritans out here, about eight of them that literally ran into the building and bring them out in the wheelchairs, walkers, and literally picking them up and physically removing them out of the danger.'

According to Trooper Steven Nevel - Public Information Officer for Troop F of the New York State Police, who spoke to CNN - one firefighter was missing for an hour inside the building.

It is unclear how many residents are unaccounted for, Nevel said, who added that another firefighter had suffered a heart attack and had been taken to hospital.

Eyewitness Mark Kennedy said that the fire had been 'raging', and that the building was 'completely destroyed', according to Insider.

'The fire was probably raging for around two hours, or maybe more, before the building caved in,' Kennedy told the outlet. 

Belaaz noted that firefighters were called to the scene from as far away as North Jersey, and helicopter assistance was also present. 

Video from the scene showed the nursing home engulfed in flames as emergency responders gathered in the parking lot. 

Video from the scene showed the nursing home engulfed in flames as emergency responders gathered in the parking lot.

Video from the scene showed the nursing home engulfed in flames as emergency responders gathered in the parking lot.

Part of the building was shown collapsing in on itself in the video (pictured)

Part of the building was shown collapsing in on itself in the video (pictured)

In footage taken following the reported explosion, parts of the building - including the roof and second floor - were shown collapsing as the fire continued to spread. 

Another video showed a number of the care home's residents on a bus as they were taken away from the scene, and was being used to allow relatives to identify them. 

Local buses from the Jewish community were being used to keep elderly residents who had escaped the building warm, and to transport them to other locations. 

According to a post on the 'Rockland Fires' Facebook page, the smell of something burning was fire reported, with the fire's status soon being upgraded to a building fire by Spring Valley's police department.

The nursing home's website says the home is a senior care and assisted living facility with rooms for up to 200 residents.

The home is found at 65 Lafayette Street in Spring Valley, which is in Rockland County, New York.

Rockland County is in upstate New York, around 45 minutes away from New York City, and has a large Orthodox Jewish community. 

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