Aide dies after helping elderly evacuate Lowell fire

By Kate Augusto, Globe Correspondent

A 51-year-old nursing assistant died today in Lowell after she helped evacuate elderly residents from a nursing home during a small fire in a dryer.

Rawlene Lizotte collapsed outside the Fairhaven Healthcare Center after helping to evacuate six residents, said Deputy Chief Patrick McCabe of the Lowell Fire Department. Rescuers tried to resuscitate Lizotte and rushed her to Lowell General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

It was not immediately clear why she died. "She apparently had some type of medical issue," McCabe said. Officials said she may have lived in Chelmsford.

Firefighters responded at 12:30 a.m. to the fire, which started in a dryer in the laundry room at the nursing home on Varnum Avenue. It was quickly extinguished by three sprinklers, but smoke filled a wing of the nursing home and forced the evacuation of six residents.

• Comment
• Permalink
• Email