Published: April 06, 2009 11:11 pm         

Electrical problems blamed for fire at Greene County Rehabilitation Center

Electrical problems in an attic have been ruled as the cause of a fire Saturday at the Greene County Rehabilitation Center in Bloomfield, the Bloomfield Fire Department reported.

Firefighters responded about 5:19 p.m. and could seek smoke coming from the roof line and eaves on the north side of the building. A sprinkler system activated, but water caused a large portion of the ceiling to fall into the building, said Fire Chief Skyler J. Pittman.

The sprinkler system also sounded a fire alarm and 22 people inside the structure were able to quickly evacuate the building. “There are 45 people who live there, but only 22 at the time of the fire and everyone was out,” Pittman said.

The Indiana State Fire Marshal’s office determined the fire started in an electrical junction box in a ceiling directly above a laundry room. Faulty wiring caused “a large amount of [electrical] arching” resulting in the fire, Pittman said.

“There was a substantial amount of water, smoke and heat damage to the north wing” of the building at 150 N. Seminary St. in Bloomfield, Pittman said.

Five fire units responded to the blaze. Pittman said it was difficult to access the fire “due to its location in the attic. We had to cut a hole in the roof,” he said.

Firefighters were on the scene for six hours. Two firefighters suffered heat exhaustion and fatigue and were taken to the Greene County Hospital, where they were treated and released. A third firefighter was taken to the hospital after returning to the fire department complaining of chest pain and elevated blood pressure, but he also was treated and released, Pittman said.

Gus Matthias, owner of the rehabilitation center, said Monday he will not reopen the center, which was heavily damaged in the fire. Matthias said patients “have been sent back to the county of their origin, some have gone back to probation officers, others to community corrections and some have been referred to outpatient programs and some are going back to jail.”

Matthias said patients from Monroe, Morgan and Lawrence counties have been transferred to his Bloomington facility, called Sunrise Counseling.