Fire at RI hospital forces partial evacuation
Emergency Management Alert, April 12, 2005
A Rhode Island hospital issued a partial evacuation last Friday after a small fire developed in a basement laundry room, according to The Providence Journal.
Laundry workers at Our Lady of Fatima in North Providence originally reported seeing just heavy smoke at 1 p.m.
Through the smoke, however, firefighters found an enflamed iron press. They quickly extinguished the fire, allowing the hospital to avoid an emergency relocation of patients on floors near the laundry room.
Before firefighters could put out the flames, heavy smoke seeped into the hallways and stairwells, endangering patients and staff. Our Lady of Fatima Hospital has more than 200 beds and was running a high occupancy at the time of the fire, according to chief nurse, Kate Roche.
The Fire Department asked certain support staff, who weren't directly working with patients, to leave the facility. However, doctors continued treating patients in the hospital's endoscopy unit, where internal examinations are usually given.
Roche said the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction.
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