Broken pipe forces evacuation

Tuesday, June 16, 1998 | 10:54 a.m.

A broken water pipe forced the evacuation of 73 patients at a Maryland Parkway convalescent center late Monday.

The patients, most of them elderly, were taken to several area nursing facilities by ambulance and CAT bus while Las Vegas Valley Water District workers shut off the water to the facility and authorities tried to determine what happened.

There were no injuries during the four-hour ordeal, though the Las Vegas Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, 2832 S. Maryland Parkway, resembled a war zone as city and county firefighters and emergency medical technicians worked to move the patients to seven different locations.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky said at about 6 p.m. a 6-inch water main broke beneath the facility and 3 feet of water quickly filled one room and a foot of water flowed down the halls.

"There was a strong current in there," said La-Sky.

Most of the patients, however, were evacuated before they got their feet wet.

La-Sky said firefighters broke through a wall to allow the water to flow to the outside.

The facility lost its electricity and emergency lighting was brought in to help in the evacuation of the patients.

La-Sky said seven of the patients were on oxygen and so were evacuated by ambulance and the rest were taken to other facilities by city buses.

"We don't encounter this type of situation very often," said La-Sky. "Logistically it was a lot of work."

Battalion Chief Paul Calabrese directed the operation.

Two city and five county fire units responded to the call.

La-Sky didn't have an estimate on the dollar value of damage to the privately owned facility, located north of the Parell Medical Center.

The majority of patients, 48, were taken to Torrey Pines Care Center and the rest to other locations around the city.