No injuries were reported after a fire broke out in a building attached to a long-term care hospital in Hamilton on Sunday morning.
Crews were first called to St. Peter’s Hospital on Maplewood Avenue at around 9:30 a.m. for reports of a fire.
When firefighters arrived on scene, they soon discovered that the fire had actually started in a storage building attached to the hospital.
"It was the smoke that actually became a problem for the occupied portions of the building and fortunately Hamilton Health Sciences staff were able to switch over their HVAC systems very quickly to start with the evacuation of smoke from those areas, which helped significantly while our crews were inside the fire-affected building attacking a very aggressive fire," Forster said.
He said that patients on the floors affected by heavy smoke were evacuated to the first floor of the hospital.
"We are currently doing smoke removal and monitoring the air quality of the inside of the building," he added. "Right now all the residents are located on the first floor for their own safety."
No injuries were reported following the fire.
"Right now Hamilton Health Sciences is making some decisions in terms of what they are going to do with the residents while we continue to monitor the air quality in the building," Forster said.
