Bomb threat forces evacuation at nursing home in Walnut Creek

A bomb threat at a local retirement and nursing facility forced a brief evacuation Friday.

In a statement by Holmes County Sheriff Tim Zimmerly, he said that

Deputies responded to a report of a bomb threat at Walnut Hills Retirement and Nursing Facility, 4748 Old Pump St., Walnut Creek, around 9:51 a.m. Friday, according to a news release from Holmes County Sheriff Timothy W. Zimmerly.

The threat was telephoned into the facility, and taken by an employee. The threat was specific to time and day of detonation, but not to a device location. Staff immediately began evacuation preparations of the residents in both buildings before arrival of authorities.

Residents were evacuated for a period of time while deputies, fire and EMS personnel secured and searched the facilities.

Residents of the facilities were under the care of staff while the evacuation was in place. EMS checked out two of the residents for minor medical complaints during the evacuation.

Holmes County Emergency Management Agency assisted deputies in securing additional facilities and transportation means for residents should the need for relocation be necessary.

Once both buildings were cleared and secured, residents and staff returned to their respective facilities.

Deputies were assisted at the scene by East Holmes Fire and EMS, Holmes County EMA, Ohio Fire Marshal and Walnut Hills staff and administration.

East Holmes Fire Chief John Schlabach said 15 members of the East Holmes Fire & EMS were on the scene for about 90 minutes.

"The staff at Walnut Hills did an awesome job getting the residents out of there," the chief said. "Everything went very well. We also employed our drone to check the perimeter and make sure there was nobody hiding in the bushes or anything outside."

Deputies are continuing the investigation.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Bomb threat at Walnut Hills in Holmes County forces evacuation