Category Archives: Hospital/Medical Clinic

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Montreal, QC, Canada – Arson fire at medical clinic performing gender change surgeries is extinguished by sprinkler system

Police are seeking a male suspect in relation to a suspicious fire that targeted the Centre métropolitain de chirurgie in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough in Montreal, the only medical clinic in Canada that offers gender reassignment surgery.

Firefighters were alerted to a fire at the clinic at 8:44 p.m. Monday. About 20 firefighters rushed to the scene, but the fire was extinguished by an automatic sprinkler system. The fire was in an operating room, according to Montreal Fire Prevention Service spokesperson Mélanie Drouin. There were a few staff members and patients in the building at the time but they got out before firefighters arrived.

Drouin said damages are estimated by fire department officials at about $700,000. Medical equipment was damaged by water and smoke, she said. The clinic provides a variety of plastic surgeries and body surgeries, including breast augmentation or reduction, facelifts, liposuction and gender reassignment surgery (GRS).

The news spread quickly among members of the transgender community in Montreal and across Canada. Some are concerned that the fire will exacerbate the already lengthy waiting periods for gender reassignment surgery at the clinic. There is also speculation as to whether the clinic was targeted because it offers GRS.

“It would certainly seem relevant that the arson targeted the only clinic in Canada that currently provides GRS and other trans-related surgeries — especially at a time when things are becoming increasingly polarized on trans issues,” said Mercedes Allen, an advocate for transsexual and transgender communities in Alberta who writes on equality, human rights, LGBT and sexual minority issues in Canada.

“Something like this is certainly not going to help a community that already feels targeted. I also hope for the sake of the surgeons and staff that they too won’t have to start living in fear of violence. However, I’d also want to be careful not to be too quick to assume that this is hate-motivated,” Allen said.

Constable Manuel Couture, a Montreal police spokesperson, said investigators are aware of the services offered by the clinic, but had not, to his knowledge, classified the fire as a suspected hate crime by Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t have any information right now to indicate that this was some kind of hate crime, but investigators are aware of that and as soon as they have the slightest suspicion that something could be a hate crime, they transfer it to the Hate Crimes Unit,” Couture said.

“This is devastating for trans health care,” Sophia Banks, a Montreal-based photographer and trans-rights advocate told the National Post. “People are freaking out” about wait times and how long the clinic will be closed. She said they’re also concerned about why this happened

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Middleburg Heights, OH – Possible arson fire at hospital contained with help from sprinkler system

The city’s detective bureau is reviewing a Feb. 21 fire at Southwest General Health Center. An employee saw smoke in an Emergency Department’s hallway at 8 p.m.  He and another staff member located the fire in the clean utility room in which the sprinkler system sprayed water throughout the room. The emergency area, which became flooded, was evacuated.

The city’s fire department arrived and extinguished a burning clean linen cart in that room. One of two carts had melted plastic on it and charred towels, blankets and gowns that were scattered across the room. The scene was cleared at 9:38 p.m. An officer went to the hospital at 12:21 a.m. Feb. 22 and recovered evidence from the fire. He found items that may have been used to start the fire.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

North Sydney, NS, Canada – Hospital laundry fire contained with help from sprinkler system

The Nova Scotia Health Authority says a small fire overnight in the laundry room of the Northside General Hospital in North Sydney caused only minor damage. The fire was caused by the spontaneous combustion of linen, according to the Nova Scotia Health Authority.

In a statement, the authority said the fire marshall has determined the fire started accidentally in a hamper of clean laundry and was “linked to the spontaneous combustion of linen.” Fire damage was limited to a small dryer room, although the main laundry area sustained smoke and water damage, and smoke travelled to some other areas of the hospital.

The fire triggered the alarm and sprinkler system around 4:30 a.m. The authority said a hospital security guard was checked for smoke inhalation but needed no further treatment, and there were no injuries.

The hospital has temporarily moved outpatient blood collection, located next to the laundry, to a nearby room, but the emergency department remains open.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

San Leandro, CA – Room fire at mental health hospital controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries

The Villa Fairmont Mental Health Rehabilitation Center remained fully functional after a room caught fire Tuesday night. Fire crews responded to a report of a fire at 7:01 p.m. at the center located in the 15000 block of Foothill Boulevard in unincorporated San Leandro, according to the Alameda County Fire Department. The blaze was confined to a room near a fire sprinkler and firefighters quickly extinguished it. There were no reports of injuries. The cause of fire was still under investigation as of Tuesday night. One room suffered moderate smoke and water damage.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Wildomar, CA – Fire in storage closet at hospital suppressed by sprinkler system

On Dec. 14, firefighters responded to Inland Valley Medical Center regarding the report of a commercial structure fire at the location.

The hospital is located at 36485 Inland Valley Drive, near Clinton Keith Road in Wildomar. Inland Valley Medical Center is a 122-bed, General Acute Care Hospital with Basic Emergency Services and a Level III Trauma Center. The hospital serves most of Temecula Valley and surrounding areas.

In a press release from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department, press information officer April Newman explained at about 5:27 p.m., 10 firefighters from two engine companies and one truck company responded to the reported fire.

The first arriving engine company found a single-story commercial building with no signs of fire or smoke showing. Upon further investigation, firefighters determined a small fire had occurred in a storage room at the hospital.

According to Newman, the fire was contained to the storage room by the hospital’s fire suppression sprinkler system. No damage was reported to have occurred as a result of the fire, however the fire sprinklers caused minor water damage to items within the storage room.

Fire department resources reportedly remained on scene for approximately one hour to assist with water salvage and cleanup.

There were no reported injuries associated with this incident.

 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Halifax, NS, Canada – No one injured after sprinklers activate in fire on seventh floor of mental hospital

The Nova Scotia Health Authority says it could take weeks to rebuild two floors damaged after a small fire at the Abbie J. Lane building of the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

The fire started at around 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday in a patient’s room, said Everton McLean, a spokesperson for the health authority. 

The fire was contained and no one was injured, but it triggered the sprinkler system and the water damaged all units on the sixth and seventh floors. Patients needing mental health care are treated on those floors. 

McLean says it will take a while to repair the rooms. 

“In those situations where we get water into the drywall, it causes issues because you have to replace drywall,” he said Thursday.

“It depends on the level of damage when maintenance crews find when we get in there, but right now we’re thinking it’s going to be several weeks.”

Most of the patients were given temporary accommodations at the Abbie J. Lane building on Wednesday night. Others were relocated to other sites at the Nova Scotia Hospital on Thursday morning.

Their families were notified, the health authority said, adding that new patients may be admitted outside the immediate area because of reduced bed availability at the Abbie J. Lane building.

The health authority says it is working to maintain services for new and existing patients.

Meanwhile, McLean says an investigation is underway to determine how the fire started. 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Wichita, KS – Sprinklers keep fire from spreading at hospital

(** Blog Note – Sprinklers do not activate by smoke; Only the substantial heat from a significant fire **)  Fire crews responded to Via Christi St. Francis hospital Sunday evening after smoke from a trash dumpster fire caused sprinklers to go off at the facility.  Dispatch reported smoke on the south side of the hospital where the trash dumpster is located. The fire did not spread to the building. 

Wichita Police provided traffic control near the scene. Roads were not closed, but part of Santa Fe was partially blocked near the hospital. 

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Grand Terrace, CA – Attic fire at convalescent hospital contained by sprinkler system

An attic fire prompted a precautionary evacuation at a Grand Terrace convalescent hospital, say San Bernardino County Fire Department officials.

The blaze was reported at 7:36 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, at Grand Terrace Health Care Center, 12000 Mount Vernon Ave., about a block north of Barton Road.

The first firefighters to arrive were the crew of Medic Engine 213 who reported smoke billowing from the roof, said Battalion Chief Dan Filter.

“We evacuated a wing because there was fire in the attic,” he said.

The building’s sprinkler system prevented the flames from spreading.

Firefighters climbed ladders to the top of the one-story building and cut a hole in the roof so they could extinguish the flames.

No one was hurt. The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately determined.

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Bel Air, MD – Fire at medical center limited to utility closet thanks to sprinkler system

Nobody was injured in a small utility room fire at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air Sunday afternoon, according to theOffice of the State Fire Marshal.  At 1:07 p.m., a fire alarm activated at the medical complex in the 500 block of Upper Chesapeake Drive, the fire marshal reported. 

Staff told emergency dispatchers there was a fire in the cardiac catheterization lab, located on the first floor of the four-story building, the report said. A cardiac catheterization lab is where medical practitioners user special equipment to diagnose heart conditions. 

Approximately 20 firefighters responded—from Bel Air, Abingdon and Fallston—and found that a sprinkler had put out a small fire in lab’s utility room before crews arrived, the fire marshal reported.  While there was no structural damage at the facility and no procedures were taking place in the lab at the time of the incident

Hospital/Care Facility, Hospital/Medical Clinic

Holdrege, NE – Electrical fire at hospital suppressed by sprinkler system

Phelps Memorial Health Center rang in the New Year with fire alarms Thursday night, when a malfunctioning electrical panel caused a small fire in the lower level of the hospital.  Though the sprinkler system and fire alarms were set off, patient care was not interrupted by the fire, and no one was evacuated, Phelps Memorial Director of Public Relations Keri Berry said.

At 9:31 p.m., the Holdrege Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire call at the hospital because of smoke in a maintenance room at the hospital. Fifteen firefighters responded to the call and were on scene for about 30 minutes, Fire Chief Jim Wagner said.

“No patients were affected by the fire. No one was moved from their rooms,” she said. “Everyone worked really well to make the process smooth.”  The hospital is investigating the fire and did not have a damage estimate available.  No injuries were reported.