Report: NY saw group home evacuation 'impractical'

WELLS, N.Y. (AP) -- According to a report, state officials knew before a deadly fire in an Adirondack group home that it would be "impractical" to rush all the severely disabled residents to safety.

The Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities had concluded the Riverview Individual Residential Alternative home's nine residents were too frail or immobile for a quick evacuation.

The state has three ranking levels for evacuation speed--prompt, slow, and impractical.

The agency rated the evacuation prospect "impractical," given the number of staffers.

As a result, the Wells facility had a sprinkler system, which is not always required for the agency's group homes.

It's unclear whether the sprinklers worked properly during the March 21 blaze.

Four residents died.