A local nursing home was evacuated for a few hours Thursday night after a small fire started in the laundry room of the facility.

The Brownwood Fire Department responded to Brownwood Nursing and Rehab located at 101 Miller Drive around 9:15 PM to extinguish the fire which was contained in the laundry room.

Brownwood Fire Marshal Buddy Preston said that the contents of a dryer ignited, sparking the blaze.  He did not know specifically what ignited the contents of the dryer Thursday night, but is continuing to investigate.   Preston said that a resident noticed smoke coming from the door of the laundry room and notified a nurse.   The nurse then tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.

The residents of the nursing home were evacuated and taken across the street to Brownwood Regional Medical Center where they stayed for a couple of hours.  The residents were able to return to the facility, but the wing where the fire was located was closed off for the night.   Officials on scene said that over 60 residents were in the facility at the time and were evacuated.

The Brownwood Fire Department, Brownwood Police Department, Texas DPS, and Guardian EMS all responded to the scene as well as several volunteers who helped evacuate residents.

Pictured at top are the nursing home residents being evacuated Thursday night.