Fire broke out in a senior long term care hospital in Hamilton Sunday morning.
Hamilton fire crews were first called out around 9:30 a.m. The fire was on the 3rd floor of at St Peter's hospital on Maplewood avenue. The floor was not occupied, but it did
force the evacuation of patients because of concerns about smoke getting into the ventilation system according to Hamilton Fire safety officer David Forster who spoke to CP24.
"It was the smoke that actually became a problem for the occupied portion of the building. Fortunately Hamilton Health Sciences staff were able to swtich over their h-vac systems very quickly to start with the evacuation of smoke from those areas." Forster adding the fire itself was very intense. "it was a very aggressive fire."
According to Forster, none of the patients or staff were injured because of the fire. " To my knowledge none of the patients in the hospital themselves required any medical assistance due to the fire itself."
The concern for hospital administration now is ensuring the safety and well being of the patients. " Right now Hamilton Health Sciences is making some decisions in terms of what they're going to do with the residents and while we continue to monitor the air quality in the building."
with files from CP24