SALEM - A fire that started in an exhaust vent filled the Salem Hospital emergency room with smoke yesterday afternoon, forcing more than 50 patients and staff to be evacuated from that building and from the adjoining North Shore Children's Hospital.
The fire, which apparently was caused by a routine test of an emergency generator, shut down the emergency room for more than three hours. Ambulances had to be diverted to area hospitals. As a precaution, one vehicle from Northshore Ambulance was set up in the parking lot as a temporary emergency room.
Nobody was injured in the 12:25 p.m. blaze, but it sent a scare through the hospital and through the first firefighters on the scene.
"We just couldn't find where the smoke was coming from," said acting Deputy Chief Al Dionne. "We didn't know what we had for a fire."
When firefighters took down part of the emergency room ceiling, smoke poured from above, filling much of the area. At that point, Dionne ordered both buildings evacuated.
The evacuation was carried out without taking patients outside.
Hospital officials said they already had begun moving 20 patients from the emergency room, down a corridor and over to the Davenport building.
The fire, which apparently was caused by a routine test of an emergency generator, shut down the emergency room for more than three hours. Ambulances had to be diverted to area hospitals. As a precaution, one vehicle from Northshore Ambulance was set up in the parking lot as a temporary emergency room.
Nobody was injured in the 12:25 p.m. blaze, but it sent a scare through the hospital and through the first firefighters on the scene.
"We just couldn't find where the smoke was coming from," said acting Deputy Chief Al Dionne. "We didn't know what we had for a fire."
When firefighters took down part of the emergency room ceiling, smoke poured from above, filling much of the area. At that point, Dionne ordered both buildings evacuated.
The evacuation was carried out without taking patients outside.
Hospital officials said they already had begun moving 20 patients from the emergency room, down a corridor and over to the Davenport building.
"Once we smelled smoke, we immediately began to evacuate patients," said Jean Graham, a hospital spokeswoman. "Some were able to walk. The rest were taken out by wheelchair and stretchers. All of the patients were escorted by staff to a staging area."
They also evacuated 11 patients from North Shore Children's Hospital, which is attached to the emergency room. The young patients were led down corridors to another part of the hospital.
The fire broke out as hospital staff members were testing an emergency generator in the basement of the emergency room and North Shore Children's Hospital, which are in adjoining buildings.
"Material in the exhaust vent caught fire," Graham said.
"They were doing a load test on the generator," fire Chief Dave Cody said. "The exhaust vent caught the roof on fire."
Burning material from the roof fell down the vent shaft, the chief said, causing smoke to come from both the roof and an area on the ground floor. The shaft is made of a fire-rated Sheetrock that prevented the blaze from spreading, he said.
After two crews of Salem firefighters went to the roof, opening it up with saws and power equipment, other firefighters used axes to smash open the vent area near the lobby.
The first on the scene for the Salem Fire Department, most of whom ended up on the roof, were Capt. Bill Francis, Lt. John Payne and firefighters Mark Harrison, Bob Jellison, Rich LeBlanc, Scott Hebert and D.J. Geary.
The crew from Engine 5 - Capt. Tony Marfongelli, Ed Burns and Jamie Koen - fought the fire from inside the building with the help of Peabody firefighters Tom Desmond, Tony Zuppio and Derek McCrea.
Fire officials praised the hospital staff, which evacuated patients in a matter of minutes.
"They had a great plan of operation and did a great job getting everybody out of there," Dionne said.
The patients from North Shore Children's Hospital were back in their rooms within a few hours. The emergency room was back in operation by 3:40 p.m., the hospital said.
None of the emergency room patients suffered smoke inhalation or other fire-related problems, according to the hospital staff. Four ended up being admitted overnight.
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