Hospital fire forces patients to evacuate

Monday, April 25, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

A fire in a maintenance area at Valley Hospital Sunday morning forced the evacuation of a few patients from the fourth floor, but there were no injuries, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

The blaze that created a cloud of thick, black smoke was confined to a fifth-floor maintenance area after firefighters arrived at 6:17 a.m. to the hospital on the 600 block of Shadow Lane, Szymanski said.

As a precaution some patients were evacuated from the fourth floor to the first floor, but they were returned to their beds after firefighters doused the blaze in less than 10 minutes, Szymanski said.

Fire investigators said that the blaze was accidental, but an exact cause has not been found, Szymanski said. Damage is estimated at $190,000.

Fire investigators believe the fire started in a refrigeration unit. Insulation, some trash and liquid from the refrigeration unit helped produce thick black smoke that was seen coming from the roof, Szymanski said.

Firefighters confined the fire to the maintenance area.

As firefighters doused the blaze, a small explosion occurred when a refrigeration line broke during the fire, helping to fuel it, Szymanski said.