The Gauteng Health Department has sought to assure residents that no patient or staff members at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria were harmed when a fire broke out at one of the wards.
According to the department, a dense smoke-filled level 6 to 3, and upon investigations it turned out the heavy smoke was coming from the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) lithium batteries back up system which had a leak and caught fire.
“Upon noticing the smoke, management and staff at SBAH immediately activated emergency protocols and ensured the safety of patients (cardiac and paediatrics intensive care unit cases) who were moved out of the affected ICUs to the alternative ones which were not affected.
The department extends a word of appreciation to the City of Tshwane’s Emergency Services Department fire brigade who responded swiftly to the incident after receiving a distress call from the facility around 00:45.
The EMS crew extinguished the fire and expelled the smoke,” said the department spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba.
Modiba confirmed that the fire was confined to the UPS unit in the plant room, and that evacuated patients will be moved back to their wards after the air sampling is concluded, the smoke odour is neutralised, and the wards are cleaned.
The City of Tshwane’s Emergency Services Department said units from three fire stations sent a combined force of at least six units to the scene to contain the fire.
On arrival, they found that the management and staff had already started the evacuation process and they assisted by evacuating patients and staff to other wards that were not affected by the fire.
On further investigation the firefighters discovered that one of the hospital’s electricians had isolated the power supply to the batteries to stop them from further damage.
“Firefighters used three mechanical positive pressure ventilation units to eject smoke that was engulfing the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on the 6th floor where 20 adult patients and one paediatric patient were evacuated and transferred to ICUs in the other wards of the hospital.
No injuries were reported at this incident,” said the emergency services spokesperson, Lindsay Mnguni.
