Four residents at a Hamilton County group home for adults with disabilities tragically died in a fire in March of this year. Investigators have blamed the blaze on human error, citing misconduct in the reported fire drills.

Ideally, the nine residents of the group home were to be evacuated from the facility in less than 8 minutes at any time of the day, no matter the circumstances. However, residents being taken care of at this group home had mental and physical disabilities that would have not allowed them to evacuate on their own in 8 minutes or less by the only two staff that worked during that shift.

The question being asked: How did anyone think two staff people could evacuate nine severely disabled residents in as little as 8 minutes?  Questions about the preparedness of the staff and the quality of their training are also in question. It is reported that one of the staff working answered a telephone call during the evacuation of the residents during the fire. The locations of exits were not remembered and staff did not know how to properly use a fire extinguisher reports The North County Gazette.

The staff on duty cannot be blamed 100% for this tragedy. The materials used to build this newer residential home were not strong enough to fend off the fire and the sprinkler systems were shoddy.

An investigation about the March 21, 2009 fire is still being conducted.

Not being prepared for the unthinkable can be a severe downfall for any business. Unfortunately this story is a good example of how things can go very wrong in an emergency situation where one needs to be able to think quickly.

There are several easy steps a business can take to be prepared for a fire. This plan should include a list of to-dos for after a fire. Learn more about business continuity after a fire.