HANOVER — An explosion at the Wheelock Terrace assisted living facility Wednesday morning temporarily displaced the its 62 residents.
Just before 11:30, a boiler walk-out basement exploded, taking out the building’s heating system, Hanover Fire Chief Michael Gilbert said Thursday morning.
The outside vendor completing maintenance work on the boiler at the time of the explosion was transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
The explosion caused extensive damage to the boiler that heats the 80-bed facility but minimal damage to the building, which provides assisted living for seniors and includes a memory care unit.
Throughout the day, the Hanover Fire Department and other state and local stakeholders such as the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services worked on a response plan, Gilbert said.
Because “moving people out of a nursing home is not an easy task,” they first explored other options such as bringing in a temporary heating system or repairing the boiler within the day.
Between 6 and 7 p.m., responders determined that the facility had to be evacuated because of the lack of heat, Gilbert said.
Depending on their level of need, residents were transported to a local hotel or to area nursing facilities where they are expected to remain for “hopefully” only a few days, Gilbert said. All of the residents were relocated by 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
Wheelock Terrace also sent staff members to the hotel to support residents.
Staff members at Wheelock Terrace Thursday morning directed a request for comment to Executive Director Kristie Daigneault, who did not respond by deadline.
As of Thursday midday, the building still did not have working heat.
