ICU engulfed by smoke as fire breaks out at Steve Biko Academic Hospital

Tshwane emergency services said they received a call about the fire at about 12.45am and the fire was extinguished four hours later.

Intensive care unit (ICU) patients at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Tshwane had to be evacuated as smoke engulfed the ward after a fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday.

Tshwane emergency services said the fire was reported at about 12.45am and firefighters from three fire stations were dispatched to the hospital.

On arrival, they found that the management and staff had already started the evacuation process and firefighters immediately began assisting with evacuating patients and staff to other wards that were not affected by the fire.

“On further investigation, the firefighters discovered that the uninterrupted power system (UPS) that consists of lithium-ion batteries that serve as a backup system in the case of a power failure, were on fire in the plant room on the seventh floor. One of the hospital’s electricians came and isolated the power supply to these batteries to stop them from further damage,” Tshwane emergency spokesperson Lindsay Mnguni said.

However, the smoke from the fire engulfed the sixth floor where 20 adult patients and one paediatric patient were in the ICU. Mnguni said firefighters used three mechanical ventilation units to eject the smoke while the patients were moved to ICUs in other wards.

“No injuries were reported. The fire was completely extinguished at about 4.42am and the cause has not yet been determined,” Mnguni said.

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