Social Affairs Editor Alison Holt understands residents are being moved to other care homes in the area for one or possibly two nights.
This will allow for further investigations.
Places are being found for about 40 frail, older people, with a range of conditions including dementia and mobility issues.
Some residents are moving to other homes run by Agincare, the company that operates Gainsborough Care Home in Swanage, but other care home providers are also being asked to help.
reporter on the scene Tristan Pascoe said: “At the moment it’s unclear what exactly happened here, but you can tell from the scale of the emergency services’ response that it’s clearly a serious incident.”
He said he was told by a relative who had visited a resident that “gas or carbon monoxide” was involved.
The local ward member on Dorset Council, Gary Suttle, suggested there was a suspicion the deaths “could be attributable to carbon monoxide, but it has not been proven”.
South West Ambulance NHS Trust said a hazardous area response team environment crew was sent to the scene along with 10 double-crewed ambulances.
Fire crews from across Dorset were sent to the scene. They have been assisted by a crew from Winchester in Hampshire.
Dorset South MP Lloyd Hatton said the deaths at Gainsborough Care Home would “certainly be hitting the whole community hard”.
He told 5Live it was “really important” to give the emergency services space to carry out their inquiries”.
The home received a Good rating when it was last inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2021.
