An unprecedented 10-alarm fireplace triggered a large emergency response forcing Brockton Hospital to be evacuated, with roughly 160 sufferers being taken to different space hospitals.
Fortunately, there have been no accidents or deaths, officers stated throughout a information convention Tuesday afternoon. Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan described the hearth as a “catastrophic event.”
“In the history of the city (and the) Brockton Fire Department, there’s never been a 10-alarmer, and today it happened,” Sullivan stated. “But with planning and preparation, we were able to have no injuries. That’s the most important thing.”
Patients requiring in-patient providers had been positioned at an “appropriate level of care” by 3 p.m., whereas some sufferers had been discharged, stated Robert Haffey, CEO and president of Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital.
Signature Healthcare’s different areas throughout the area remained open, and staffers had been contacting sufferers’ households to tell them which hospital their member of the family had been moved to.
Some of the hospitals embody Cape Cod Hospital, Falmouth Hospital and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Sullivan stated.
Officials instructed reporters they don’t seem to be positive when the hospital will reopen as an investigation into the hearth and a injury evaluation continues. Appointments scheduled for Wednesday can be adjusted, Haffey stated.
“They did an incredible job,” he stated of the hospital’s nursing workers. “I was up on the floors as we were moving patients. Just an incredible sight to see the teamwork that occurred today.”
As the hearth climbed to 10 alarms, Brockton Fire Department acquired mutual assist from dozens of space departments from as far north as Boston and Brookline to as far south as Fall River. Several Cape Cod departments – Hyannis, Harwich, Dennis and Cotuit – additionally responded.
In all, 77 ambulances, 31 fireplace engines, seven fireplace ladders and 6 wheelchair vans responded to the scene Tuesday morning, with many first responders staying in shut proximity to the hospital nicely after the hearth was extinguished.
When the hearth struck a number of alarms, a stabilization plan took impact, Brockton Fire Chief Brian Nardelli stated.
Firefighters and hospital workers helped take sufferers all the way down to floor degree by way of backboards, stretchers and stair chairs. As the evacuation continued and sufferers had been seen being wheeled from the hospital to a battalion of ready ambulances exterior, fireplace crews battled the blaze from the again of the constructing.
That allowed for as clean a response as doable, Nardelli stated.
“When we have plans in place I can assure you as long as you are sticking to the plan, they work,” he stated. “Sometimes we are thrown a curveball, and we have to pivot. Did that happen today? Absolutely, a number of times.”
Earlier Tuesday, Nardelli stated the hearth broke out within the electrical utility room of the hospital. He stated it might have originated in a transformer within the basement. Fighting the blaze was sophisticated by {the electrical} nature of the hearth and the hazard it offered.
National Grid was on scene to chop energy to the constructing, however as soon as energy was down, the hospital’s emergency turbines kicked in, they usually additionally needed to be shut down, Nardelli stated.
Power had not been restored as of Tuesday afternoon.
The fireplace induced extreme injury to the hospital’s most important electrical rooms, State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey stated.
“At this juncture, we do not believe this is anything other than accidental,” he stated of a possible trigger.
The Salvation Army Massachusetts despatched canteen groups from Lynn and New Bedford to help and supply assist for firefighters and evacuees on the hospital. By midday, roughly 100 drinks had been served whereas 300 sandwiches and soups had been being ready, stated Jordan Avery, the Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services staff lead.
Antontine Louisne has labored as an interpreter on the hospital for six years. She seen one thing off when she arrived at work within the morning and realized her coworkers weren’t within the workplace.
Louisne stated she thought they had been on a name, however she shortly realized all people needed to evacuate when she heard fireplace alarms going off and noticed smoke within the constructing.
“I am glad that everybody is alive,” she stated.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”