December 27, 2024
John Kopp/PhillyVoice
Crozer-Chester Medical Center experienced a fire Thursday night caused by a small flood. Critical care patients were evacuated and no injuries were reported.
Update 3:47 p.m.: Thirty-five patients were evacuated from the third and fourth floor — which is designated for labor and delivery and the ICU — during Thursday's fire inside the Crozer-Chester Medical Center, police said Friday afternoon. Firefighters and police responded to the scene around 8:30 p.m. and were there until around 2 a.m.
As responders were extinguishing the blaze, water levels increased from a water main break, which caused power outages in the hospital. The power has since been restored.
A fire inside the Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Delaware County, on Thursday night prompted the evacuation of critical care patients to other facilities.
Emergency response crews arrived at the scene around 9:30 p.m. responding to a water main break and an electrical fire. Helicopter footage from CBS Philadelphia showed a large fire department and police presence around the hospital and smoke coming out of a building.
Crozer Health CEO Tony Esposito said in a statement released shortly before 11 p.m. that the blaze was caused by a "small flood" and was no longer active.
"Critical care patients were evacuated from the facility to safe areas and we have been working with the county (to) ensure their safety," said Esposito, who added that no injuries were reported.
About two dozen patients were transferred out of the hospital, CBS Philadelphia said. Crozer Health did not respond to an inquiry about where the patients were taken.
A spokesperson for utility company PECO told CBS Philadelphia that it had crews on the scene, and part of the building lost power.
Earlier in December, a technical issue with radiology services caused the emergency rooms in Crozer-Chester and Taylor Hospital, which is also owned by Crozer Health, to close for several hours.
Crozer-Chester Medical Center has 302 beds and touts itself as the only hospital in the Philadelphia suburbs with a comprehensive emergency department, trauma center and burn treatment center.
