Caregiver Dies After Rescuing Patients From Fire

Rawlene Lizotte Could Not Be Revived After She Collapsed

POSTED: 8:13 am EST February 22, 2008
UPDATED: 8:31 am EST February 22, 2008

BOSTON --

A nursing assistant from Lowell is being remembered as a hero after she died while helping evacuate nursing home residents during a fire.

Caregiver Rescues Patients From Fire, Dies

The blaze at the Fairhaven Healthcare Center was a small dryer fire. But smoke filled the halls early Thursday morning, and Rawlene Lizotte, 51, helped six residents get out of the building.

After the rescue, the woman collapsed. Staffers and firefighters tried reviving Lizotte, but could not.

"We heard some screaming in the hallway and thought it was one of the elderly people upset by the fire. She had fallen and was in cardiac arrest," Lowell Fire Deputy Chief Jeff Winward said.

The city is providing grief counseling for the nursing home.

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