Church Youth Group Rescues Nursing Home Residents from Fire

A church youth group came to the rescue for a group of elderly citizens. The teens had met for a night of board games.

Youth Pastor Kelly Skilton smelt smoke just before 7 pm. The youth then left Murumbeena Uniting Church to investigate.

Minister Jay Robinson said church members saw the fire coming from a home in their southeast Melbourne neighborhood. They promptly called the authorities.

The youth group went into “overdrive”, Ms. Robinson said. Along with emergency personnel, the youth took all twenty-five residents to safety in their church.

“They called me in, but by the time I got there they had found blankets, were serving tea and coffees, water, having conversations and making them as comfortable as they possibly could,” Ms. Robinson said.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews arrived at the nursing home within seven minutes only to find the rear of the residents consumed by the flames.

Within fifteen minutes, the fire was under control.

An employee of the nursing home said that a woman was taken to the hospital. She suffered shortness of breath. She should, however, make a full recovery soon.

Ms. Robinson said the youth entertained their guests for an hour until it was safe for them to go home.

“The young adults thought they’d have a bit of fun and play some board games, but they did people games instead,” she said.

“It was a bit of a change from the usual Sunday night wind down.

“I think most of (the residents) had an absolute ball. Some of them said they might want to come to church.”

Officials are investigating the cause of the fire.