Residents were evacuated from the personal care home in Manitou Thursday afternoon after reports of smoke coming from the building.

Manitou Fire Chief Kris Reynolds explains an electrical fault in the facility's furnace caused a filter to catch fire.

The problem has since been fixed, and residents were allowed back into their homes yesterday afternoon.

"The evacuation went very smoothly," Reynolds says. "I'm happy with the outcome."

Local residents also commented on the situation praising firefighters and care home staff and residents for the cooperation and calm response.

"[I] cannot say enough good things about the staff at the care home," local resident Judy Webber says. "This was all handled so calmly, professionally [and] with so much care given to the patients as well as their families. Awesome staff, you all worked overtime, so well together, also big kudos to our awesome firefighters for such a great job as well."

"Everyone was safely transported elsewhere until things could get cleaned up," she adds. "What a great community we live in."

"It's the community, everyone bands together when they need to," Reynolds says.