About five Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital-Westborough patients were moved from their rooms for roughly an hour Thursday due to a smoke odor, Westborough Fire Lt. Ross Eldridge said.
The motor of a roof vent "that serviced all of those rooms that had the odor of smoke" had burned out, Eldridge said.
The fire department received a call from Whittier, at 150 Flanders Road, around 8 a.m., reporting a smoke odor and a "possible electrical fire in the east wing," he said.
Whittier staff "evacuated everyone to another part of the building," per the facility's protocols, Eldridge said.
Firefighters experienced that the odor was "very strong in certain rooms," he said.
Firefighters' initial building check uncovered nothing, he said.
Firefighters returned to the roof, and determined that what "looks like a restaurant vent" near the heating and ventilation unit was hot, Eldridge said.
Firefighters were at the scene for about an hour, he said.
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