Major incident declared and sufferers evacuated after fireplace at University Hospital Southampton | EUROtoday

A serious incident has been declared and 200 sufferers have been evacuated after a fireplace broke out at University Hospital Southampton – inflicting important harm.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service have been known as to Southampton General Hospital at 5.30am after flames have been seen within the endoscopy unit.

More than 110 firefighters rushed to the scene, the place they used respiratory equipment, hose reel jets and an Aerial Ladder Platform to battle the blaze.

Roughly 200 sufferers have been evacuated to security and roads across the hospital have been closed. They are at the moment being cared for in corridors and different components of the hospital.

In an announcement posted on their web site, the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust confirmed the hearth has now been contained however has triggered “significant damage” to a part of the hospital. Nobody has been harm.

The assertion added: “We understand news of the fire and subsequent evacuation will cause anxiety for relatives keen to find out how their loved ones are where they are now situated within the hospital.

“We are working hard to utilise all available space and move patients into other wards and departments where possible.

“Our telephone lines are exceptionally busy and would ask people to bear with us and refrain from calling unless urgent.”

All outpatient appointments have been cancelled and people requiring medical care are being urged to remain away until your situations is “deemed life or limb threatening”.

Patients are being urged to make use of different providers in the neighborhood together with the Urgent Treatment Centres on the Royal South Hants hospital in Southampton and Lymington, go to native pharmacies or name and take recommendation from 111.

The reason behind the hearth just isn’t but recognized.

Larry Mackrell, group supervisor at Hampshire Fire and Rescue and incident commander for the operation on the hospital, informed the Southern Daily Echo: “Around 5.30am this morning we got a call for an incident at Southampton General and we have deployed resources from across Hampshire to deal with this incident.

“At its height we had around 110 firefighters here. I can confirm that the fire is now out and our crews are undertaking smoke clearance within the building.”

He stated crews will stay on the website for the foreseeable future, however they’re starting to wind down their presence.

“At this stage, we have no indication of what might have caused the fire but we will now be looking to carry out some fire investigation,” he added.

“I can confirm that the fire stayed within the room of ignition but smoke has travelled throughout the floor so the impact of the fire has been significant.”