HANOVER — All of the 62 residents evacuated from a Buck Road assisted living community after a late October boiler explosion were expected to be back in their residences by the end of the day Monday.
The Wheelock Terrace assisted living community began accepting residents back into the facility last Tuesday, nearly a week after a boiler undergoing repairs exploded and knocked out the heating system, Administrator Kristie Daigneault said Friday.
The remaining displaced residents were scheduled to return to Wheelock Terrace by the end of the day on Monday, a news release from the facility said.
The building now has an ancillary boiler that will provide heat until a new permanent boiler is in place, Daigneault said.
The Oct. 29 explosion caused minimal damage to the building itself and no injuries to residents or staff. The outside vendor completing maintenance work on the boiler was transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and discharged later that night with “no significant injuries,” Hanover Fire Chief Michael Gilbert said Monday.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown, but both an insurance provider and the Hanover Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating, Gilbert added.
After working through the day to find a temporary heating solution, first responders and facility staff determined that residents could not stay in the building without heat.
After the decision was made, Wheelock Terrace staff evacuated the building in less than two hours, Daigneault said Friday.
Several community partners supported the evacuation, including the Hanover Fire Department, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Safety and New Hampshire Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The 62 residents were temporarily relocated to nearby assisted living communities or to stay with family members in the area.
Along with the residents, Wheelock Terrace sent staff support to each facility, including medical staff and other support providers such as activity professionals.
“That was the difference between a successful discharge to a new community for a short stay versus not, because you can’t admit 15 people overnight to a new community without providing a staff.”
Residents of Wheelock Terrace have a range of needs, and some are more mobile than others. The facility also includes a memory care unit.
After the evacuation, Daigneault said she began working with contractors to get a heating system online. Contractors installed a temporary boiler system outside the building that has the capacity to heat the entire facility.
When it came time to move residents back into the building, they were returned in phases.
With 62 people to consider, “repatriating them to the community is a process. It’s not something that happens instantaneously,” Daigneault said.
The staff started with residents who were “out in the community” staying with family members.
“That was a priority for us because we have obviously busy professionals and we take care of their parents; teachers and doctors and people that need to go back to work,” Daigneault said.
In the next phase, residents staying in four nearby assisted living communities were returned to their Wheelock Terrace apartments.