Category Archives: Hospital/Medical Clinic

Salmon Arm, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at hospital

No serious injuries resulted from a fire at Shuswap Lake General Hospital on Friday night but two patients were checked for smoke inhalation.

The Salmon Arm Fire Department was paged at 7:20 p.m. Sept. 23 for what was tagged at first as a commercial alarm. However, that was soon upgraded to a structure fire, recounts Deputy Fire Chief Gary Lebeter.

When crews arrived on the hospital’s second floor where the alarm was coming from, the sprinkler system had activated and already extinguished the fire.

“Which was great, it had done what it was supposed to do,” Lebeter said.

There were two beds in the room and the two patients required assessment for smoke inhalation.

All 19 patients on Level 2 were safely evacuated to another area of the hospital, Interior Health reported, noting minor damage was isolated to the area of the fire.

Level 2 was temporarily closed as damage was assessed and repaired. Interior Health said Monday repairs have begun to the damaged area and some beds on Level 2 are expected to open next week.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Salmon Arm Fire Department.

Lebeter said crew members helped move patients from the second to the fourth floor, as well as setting up ventilation fans to remove the smoke. He said there was a fair amount of water damage on the second floor, so firefighters “got busy with mops” to limit damage or accidents.

Interior Health said it would like to thank the Salmon Arm Fire Department, the RCMP and all staff who quickly came together to assist during the incident.

Ann Arbor, MI – Fire at hospital extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Multiple fire crews from across Washtenaw County responded to a three-alarm fire inside Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor Tuesday afternoon.

Fire crews were called at 3:28 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, to a fire at Michigan Medicine’s University Hospital facility for a report of a fire on the third floor, according to the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

Crews arrived and went to the third floor, a mechanical floor with no hospital patients, and found heavy smoke and an active fire in a very large air handling unit the building’s sprinkler system was unable to extinguish on its own, officials said.

Using the AAFD’s tower truck, firefighters stretched 250 feet of high-rise hose line from a standpipe to extinguish the fire as additional fire crew were called to the hospital, officials said.

The fire was able to be contained while additional crew searched the upper floors to check for any additional smoke or fire spread, officials said.

There were no reported injuries or significant damage to the hospital, but there was smoke in a few patient care units, according to an alert from Michigan Medicine.

Patients and staff in impacted areas have been relocated, the alert said.

Hospital officials stated it is temporarily reducing the capacity of operating rooms for Oct. 13 and are rescheduling a portion of procedures as a safety precaution.

“Firefighters did outstanding work with this very challenging fire,” said Ann Arbor Fire Chief Mike Kennedy. “We have planned and trained for high-rise fires for the last 18 months and today all of that effort paid off. Our firefighters performed flawlessly.”

Multiple fire crews from the surrounding area assisted at the scene including the Ann Arbor Township Fire Department, Scio Township Fire Department, Pittsfield Township Fire Department, Superior Township Fire Department, Saline Area Fire Department and the Northfield Township Fire Department.

The University of Michigan Division of Safety and Security, Michigan Medicine security and staff, the Ann Arbor Police Department, HART Huron Valley, assisted at the scene as well.

Marshfield, WI – Sprinkler system activated for fire at clinic; No injuries reported

Marshfield Fire and Rescue Department responded to a call at 1000 N Oak Ave in Marshfield on Saturday morning shortly before 8:30 am.

The general fire alarm dispatched the Standard Fire Response Unit (2 engines, 1 truck and 1 ambulance and a total of 8 personnel) to the Marshfield Clinic. While en route, dispatch informed crews that Clinic security had a water flow alarm on the ground level.

Upon arrival, fire crew searched the ground floor finding nothing remarkable. Then, additional information came in that the water flow alarm was coming from the 2nd floor at the Ben R. Lawton Center. As the crew arrived on the 2nd floor, they were met with mild smoke and the signs of a sprinkler system flowing water.

A sprinkler head was flowing water above a contained dryer used in the cleaning process of specimen trays in the lab. This sprinkler head flow was stopped by the fire crew responding to the call.

Once it was determined that the fire was out, the fire crew initiated the process of removing water from the structure and protecting property. Fire units remained on-scene for more than 3 hours.

As of a result of the fire, the room where the fire originated has heat and smoke damage. Additionally, water damage is present on the 2nd, 1st and basement levels. A preliminary estimate of $50,000 in damages was reported.

There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire call.

Lexington, KY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at cancer center; No injuries reported

Firefighters are investigating the cause of a small fire that set off some of the sprinklers in the UK Markey Cancer Center early Wednesday morning.

A small fire broke out at around 3 a.m. in the Comprehensive Breast Care Center located on the second floor of the Whitney-Hendrickson Building. This building is part of the UK Markey Cancer Center and faces Huguelet Drive.- Advertisement –

As designed, heat from the fire activated sprinklers, which produced water to fight the fire.

Firefighters said they didn’t see any flames or smoke from outside the building but did find two sprinklers had been activated on the second floor because of a small fire.

Firefighters put it out, shut down the sprinkler system and ventilated the building. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Schedulers are contacting patients with appointments Wednesday to reschedule or redirect them.

Boone County, WV – Hospital sprinkler system contains fire; No injuries reported

A small fire broke out in Boone Memorial Hospital early Tuesday morning.

A press release from Boone Memorial Hospital says the fire started in an unoccupied room on the first floor.

The fire was quickly contained by the Hospital’s fire safety sprinkler protection system.

There were no injuries or evacuations involved in the fire. The cause is under investigation by the West Virginia Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Madison, Danville, and Van Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the scene.

Rossville, MD – Fire sprinklers extinguish utility room fire at medical center; No injuries reported

A fire in a utility room at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center was quickly extinguished, Baltimore County fire officials said.

Fire officials said firefighters were called around 3:09 p.m. for a fire on the third floor of the hospital in Rossville.

Fire officials said the hospital alarm system sounded and as firefighters were en route, the sprinkler system activated. Officials said firefighters found heavy smoke on the third floor and it took about 45 minutes to put out the fire.

“They were able to make quick extinguishment of the fire, the sprinklers were activated. They were able to contact that very quickly. They were working to shelter patients in place,” Baltimore County fire Capt. Len Stewart said.

Patients at the hospital were sheltered in place as fire crews worked on ventilating the facility. No injuries were reported, officials said.

“We had a fire in one of our inpatient units. It looks like it originated in one of our utility rooms, storage rooms. (I’m) delighted to say that the first responders did a magnificent job to put the fire out, patients were moved laterally as per our plans, no patients were hurt, no staff were injured, thank goodness. The fire’s out and we are cleaning up and looking to get back to full operations,” said Stuart Levine, president of MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center.

Levine told 11 News that the floor affected by the fire was where some COVID-19 patients were being treated. They have been moved to other areas at the hospital.

Firefighters said there was water damage on the second floor.

Rochester Hills, MI – Hospital sprinkler system contains fire on Thanksgiving; No injuries reported

Fire crews were dispatched Thursday morning to Ascension Providence Rochester Hospital on reports of a fire.

According to authorities, the call came in at about 8:45 a.m. and when fire crews arrived, they found smoke coming from the second floor of the building. Fortunately, the area that the fire was in was closed due to Thanksgiving.

Authorities said the hospital’s sprinkler system held the fire back until fire crews were able to extinguish the fire.

Rochester Hills Fire Department had help from fire crews from Waterford, Bloomfield Township, Troy, Oakland Township and Auburn Hills.

No one was injured during the fire.

The fire investigation will be handled by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Philadelphia, PA – Hospital fire extinguished by fire sprinklers after man barricaded himself in room and set fire to bed sheets; No injuries reported

The emergency room at a Kensington hospital was closed Saturday after a man set a fire inside one of the rooms, police said.

A man at Temple University Hospital’s Episcopal Campus barricaded himself in a room in the emergency department and set fire to bed sheets, but no one was injured.

Police said hospital security searched the 30- to 40-year-old man at about 2:40 p.m. Saturday and placed him in a room. The man was there to receive drug treatment. Police said he barricaded himself inside and turned on oxygen tanks, then lit the bed sheets on fire.

Police said a maintenance man broke a window and the man climbed out and fought with security, but police arrived and arrested him. The emergency room was evacuated with no injuries. The blaze was extinguished and the fire marshal declared it an arson.

A spokeswoman for Temple Health said the building’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire. Patients in the ER were transported to Temple University Hospital’s Main Campus, she added. The hospital will continue sending ER patients there until the Episcopal ER can reopen.

Police said the emergency room will remain closed until repairs are completed.

Franklin, TN – Fire sprinkler extinguishes fire at unoccupied pediatric clinic; No injuries reported

A fire broke out at an unoccupied pediatric clinic in Franklin just before 9 p.m. Friday. The flames were extinguished by the building’s automatic sprinkler system.

When the sprinkler system was triggered, the fire alarms sounded, dispatching the Franklin Fire Department to the location. Those crews arrived at Pediatric Associates of Franklin – located at 570 Baker’s Bridge Avenue – and found light smoke and one active sprinkler. The sprinkler had extinguished a fire in a patient examination room before firefighters made it there.

Franklin fire investigators said the damage was limited to the room where the small blaze began.

Damage to the building is estimated to be less than $10,000. No interruption of business or care is expected for the practice.

Sioux Falls, SD – Equipment fire at hospital extinguished by fire sprinkler; No injuries reported

Authorities say a small equipment fire at a Sanford Hospital building in Sioux Falls forced staff to temporarily move some patients to a different part of the building.

The fire broke out around 11 p.m. near the radiology department on the ground floor of the medical center.

According to Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, an equipment maintenance cart started on fire, but it was extinguished by a sprinkler before firefighters arrived.

A Sanford spokesperson said patients were briefly moved from the emergency department and The Birth Place while firefighters evaluated the situation. Once the smoke in the air had been cleared, patients were returned to their rooms.

No one was hurt during the incident.

Sanford said its fire response worked “as designed.” The spokesperson said patients will not experience any disruptions due to the incident.