Safety

Lab worker's discarded match causes FL hospital fire

Hospital Safety Connection, March 10, 2004

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Officials blamed a carelessly discarded match for a fire that caused about $100,000 in damage to a Tarpon Springs, FL, hospital on March 6, the St. Petersburg Times reports.

Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital evacuated eight patients from their rooms after the fire started in a second-floor laboratory. No one was injured.

An employee accidentally started the fire at 8:15 p.m. while she was conducting a test in the hospital's microbiology lab. She lit a candle and put the match near an area in the lab that contained boxes and other flammable materials, fire officials said.

The hospital's fire alarm and sprinkler system went off, and firefighters arrived five minutes later. They had the blaze under control in about 20 minutes.



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