HFD

At 1:16 p.m. Tuesday, City of Hays emergency dispatchers were alerted to an automatic fire alarm at Via Christi Village, 2225 Canterbury Drive. The City of Hays Fire Department, assisted by the Hays Police Department, was immediately dispatched to investigate.

First-arriving police officers found Via Christi staff evacuating residents from one wing of the assisted-living facility and reporting smoke in that wing. Additional reinforcements were dispatched, including Ellis County Fire Department Company 5, Ellis County EMS and the recall of Hays Fire Department off-duty members.

Firefighters found significant smoke and a fire burning above the ceiling in a resident’s room. The fire was quickly extinguished with a fire extinguisher by firefighters. Firefighters then worked to remove smoke from the building. EMS paramedics checked all affected residents and staff but found no one to be injured.

The most probable cause of the fire was a malfunction in heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment located in the void space above the ceiling.

Six fire trucks and 25 firefighters responded. The last fire crew left the scene at 2:41 p.m.

“The members of the City of Hays Fire Department would like to commend the staff of Via Christi Village for their calm, organized and professional response,” the HFD said in a news release. “All of the residents in the wing where the fire was located were quickly evacuated. All of the building fire protection systems operated as designed to detect the fire, sound the alarm and limit the spread of smoke into other building areas.”