The beginning of the fire generates scare and evacuation at Conceição Hospital in Porto Alegre
A fire broke out at Nossa Senhora da Conceição Hospital, one of the largest in Porto Alegre, early this Thursday morning (2). Patients had to be moved from internal areas of the hospital. Employees also left the environments and stood in front of the building in the North North Zone of the Capital.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and brought the situation under control.
The general director of Grupo Hospitalar Conceição (GHC), Cláudio Oliveira, informs that the problem arose in the area where air conditioning equipment is located, but that there was no fire in any unit.
“It was in an air conditioner and spread a lot of smoke on the floors, but there was no fire in any unit”, explains Oliveira.
According to the director, the patients are being relocated and had all the support of the Conceição teams.
“We’ve already returned to the sectors, but it still smells of smoke”, says hospital nurse Carla Britto, who works in Psychiatry.
Patients from different areas of the hospital were evacuated due to the smoke that was generated. Photo: Carla Britto/Disclosure
Carla describes that, by the time the smoke began to spread, there was “a lot of turmoil”. The sector where she works is on the fourth floor and is completely fenced, she describes it.
“One of my patients fell down the stairs and bruised his leg,” he recalls.
“Those who could walk down went down the stairs. But many bedridden people ended up staying on the floor”, quotes Carla.
“It’s a good thing it was soon controlled, otherwise there would be a great tragedy if the oxygen network was hit. We would have an explosion instead of the beginning of a fire”, says the relieved nurse.
In a note, the GHC management clarified that it was “the beginning of a fire in an electrical panel room”.
As there was a lot of smoke, two wards and the emergency room were evacuated. Some patients were relocated to Cristo Redentor Hospital, which belongs to the GHC, says the note.
The institution also says that the hospital’s Fire Brigade controlled the outbreak, with the help of the Fire Department. “During the day, the hospital should return to normality”, projects the GHC.
Another information is that the emergency was closed, because patients from the ICU of Hospital Criança Conceição (HCC) were relocated in the area.
