A fire in the first floor of the Victoria General Hospital popularly known as Gosha Hospital here on Friday evening triggered panic among the patients, especially mothers of new-born babies.
The fire occurred in the children’s ward at around 4.15 p.m. Two fire engines had been rushed to the hospital in 20 minutes and the fire was doused by 5 p.m., said District Fire Officer J. Mohan Rao.
First incident
There were about nine infants in the ward. “Timely action by the nurses saved the day for us,” said superintendent of the hospital Dr. K. Padmaleela.
The nurses and the staff, noticing the fire, immediately shifted the babies out of the ward, she said.
According to the DFO, the fire apparently broke out from a faulty air-condition machine and one of the incubators was gutted. Three baby warmers and three AC machines in the floor were also damaged, he said.
“This is for the first time a fire took place in the hospital and we are examining the reasons,” said the fire service personnel. But sources in the fire department pointed out that the hospital was one among the oldest hospitals in the district and fire fighting norms had not been updated. According to Dr. K. Padmaleela, the extent of the damage was still to be ascertained.
