A small blaze at St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown brought out firefighters from around the area.
Just before 1 p.m. Friday, firefighters were dispatched to the main hospital campus on Langhorne-Newtown Road for an alarm system. Shortly after, hospital staff dialed 9-1-1 and reported smoke in the building.
Advertisements
Staff and visitors from a portion of the hospital were cleared from Sidney T. Yates Outpatient Building while emergency crews went to work.
It took firefighters about 20 minutes to place the small fire under control, Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company Chief Frank Farry said.
Middletown Fire Marshal Jim McGuire said the fire involved a “very, very small portion of the roof” and some of an interior wall. Most of the flames were out by the time crews arrived.
Advertisements
“Crews had to open some holes up and make sure we didn’t have extension, but thankfully we did not,” Farry said.
McGuire found the fire was caused accidentally by crews working on the roof of the building.
No injuries were reported and no patients had to be relocated.
Advertisements
“Earlier today, external construction work unintentionally caused some smoke to enter one of our campus’s buildings. Per our policies and as a precaution, we temporarily evacuated a portion of our facility and contacted the fire department. Responders inspected the area and cleared it as safe to re-enter. We are thankful this matter was resolved quickly, and we are grateful to the first responders for their speedy attention and professionalism,” said Ann D’Antonio, vice president of marketing communications at hospital operator Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic.
Pointing to the response by staff and the fire system, McGuire noted fire doors functioned properly and cut off the area where the blaze was located. The fire doors stopped the smoke from spreading to any patient areas.
The Middletown Department of Fire and Emergency Management and Langhorne-Middletown, Parkland, Penndel, Northampton, and Newtown fire companies were on the scene. The Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad and police also responded.
Advertisements
