Massive fire engulfs senior living facility outside of Philadelphia

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — A massive fire at a senior living community in Pennsylvania late Thursday injured at least 20 people, emergency officials said.

The fire was reported around 11 p.m. Thursday at Barclay Friends Senior Living Community in West Chester, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Residents were forced to evacuate outside into 40-degree temperatures.

“All I can tell you is we have multiple alarms and multiple evacuations,” said a Chester County dispatcher told the Inquirer, who confirmed some of the basic details.

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The blaze climbed to five alarms in about half an hour, the Inquirer reported, and at one point flames rose above the tops of some of the buildings. The Barclay Friends facility offers offers various levels of care from memory care and skilled nursing to post-acute rehabilitation., Inquirer reported.

Fire officials said emergency responders were triaging patients on the lawn of the facility as the huge building burned with billowing, dense smoke.

Cox Media Group