Photo: Roy Wood

Residents of an Osoyoos retirement home will begin returning to their rooms today, following their evacuation Monday night because of a fire in the laundry room.

The blaze erupted about 9:30 p.m. at Mariposa Village, apparently because of an overheated clothes dryer on the second floor of the care facility.

Acting facility manager Jesse Sales said 26 residents were taken from their rooms and moved “behind the fire walls” as soon as the alarm was sounded. They were accommodated overnight in other rooms at the seniors’ home.

One resident and one staff member were taken to South Okanagan Regional Hospital in Oliver Tuesday night. They were treated and released and were back “in a couple of hours,” Sales said.

The fire was doused by the building’s sprinkler system, and fire retardant was applied by Osoyoos Fire Department members, who reacted quickly to the alarm.

“They (the fire department) got here before I did,” said Sales, “and I was here in about 15 minutes.”

Will McKay, managing partner of the Baybridge-Baltic ownership group, also had high praise for the volunteer fire department. “They were Johnny on the spot. … They did a wonderful job for us,” he said.

Damage to the facility – mostly due to water from the sprinkler system – was limited to the laundry room, two adjacent residents’ rooms, a first-floor storage room and the kitchen, which is in the basement.

Sales said most of the residents would be back in their rooms today. For any whose rooms are not ready for re-occupancy, alternative accommodation has been arranged, he said.

The care facility is home to 109 residents, plus staff.