Gateway Residents Evacuated After Smoke Scare

CLEVELAND, Ga. — The 55 residents of Gateway Health & Rehabilitation, 3201 Westmoreland Road in Cleveland, were evacuated Sunday following a report of smoke in the building.

White County Public Safety Director David Murphy said units from White County and Cleveland were dispatched around noon. No fire was discovered, but the smoke was caused by some electrical issues that caused the air conditioning units to fail.

With the summer heat reaching into the upper 80s, Gateway employees began looking to move the residents to other facilities where they would be more comfortable. But just as busses had been located to transport residents, the maintenance workers from Habersham Electric were able to fix the problem and move residents back into the facility.

“HEMC workers came through,” Murphy said. “They worked hard to figure out how to get the power restored.”