*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Department Reported ***
On May 15, 2017 at 12:31 p.m., the Park Ridge Fire Department was dispatched to 1775 W. Dempster Street, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (ALGH), for an activated fire alarm. Upon arrival, the Incident Commander was notified by ALGH staff of a reported fire in the basement of the Surgery Building. The Incident Commander upgraded the fire response to a Code 4, which calls for additional resources to be dispatched to the scene. PRFD crews arrived on the scene within four (4) minutes and determined there was a possible fire in the mechanical room located in the lower level. Maintenance staff had gone to investigate the alarm and saw that the room was full of smoke. At that point, they correctly closed the door to limit the spread of smoke and fire and awaited arrival of the Fire Department. When PRFD crews entered the mechanical room, they saw water flowing from the sprinkler system and the room was charged with smoke. The sprinkler system had extinguished the fire and kept it limited to the room of origin. Crews checked for fire extension in the area and ventilated the smoke out of the building. No injuries were reported to any ALGH staff, hospital patients, visitors, or fire personnel and all affected areas of the hospital were evacuated safely. Preliminary investigation indicates that the fire was electrical in origin. There is no estimate of damage at this point.
Mutual aid to Park Ridge was received from the following fire departments: Morton Grove, Glenview, Des Plaines, Skokie, and North Maine. Engine and ambulance companies from the Norwood Park, Elk Grove, Rosemont and Wheeling Fire Departments responded to staff the Park Ridge fire stations during this incident to ensure quick response to any other emergency calls while PRFD crews were committed. They responded to one emergency medical call while PRFD crews remained at the ALGH fire. Most of the out of town mutual aid companies were returned by Park Ridge within 45 minutes of the initial alarm to ALGH.
