An unprecedented 10-alarm fire triggered a massive emergency response forcing Brockton Hospital to be evacuated, with roughly 160 patients being taken to other area hospitals.
Fortunately, there were no injuries or deaths, officials said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan described the fire as a “catastrophic event.”
“In the history of the city (and the) Brockton Fire Department, there’s never been a 10-alarmer, and today it happened,” Sullivan said. “But with planning and preparation, we were able to have no injuries. That’s the most important thing.”
Patients requiring in-patient services had been placed at an “appropriate level of care” by 3 p.m., while some patients had been discharged, said Robert Haffey, CEO and president of Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital.
Signature Healthcare’s other locations across the region remained open, and staffers were contacting patients’ families to inform them which hospital their family member had been moved to.
Some of the hospitals include Cape Cod Hospital, Falmouth Hospital and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Sullivan said.
Officials told reporters they are not sure when the hospital will reopen as an investigation into the fire and a damage assessment continues. Appointments scheduled for Wednesday will be adjusted, Haffey said.
“They did an incredible job,” he said of the hospital’s nursing staff. “I was up on the floors as we were moving patients. Just an incredible sight to see the teamwork that occurred today.”
As the fire climbed to 10 alarms, Brockton Fire Department received mutual aid from dozens of area departments from as far north as Boston and Brookline to as far south as Fall River. Several Cape Cod departments – Hyannis, Harwich, Dennis and Cotuit – also responded.
In all, 77 ambulances, 31 fire engines, seven fire ladders and six wheelchair vans responded to the scene Tuesday morning, with many first responders staying in close proximity to the hospital well after the fire was extinguished.
When the fire struck multiple alarms, a stabilization plan took effect, Brockton Fire Chief Brian Nardelli said.
Firefighters and hospital staff helped take patients down to ground level via backboards, stretchers and stair chairs. As the evacuation continued and patients were seen being wheeled from the hospital to a battalion of waiting ambulances outside, fire crews battled the blaze from the back of the building.
That allowed for as smooth a response as possible, Nardelli said.
“When we have plans in place I can assure you as long as you are sticking to the plan, they work,” he said. “Sometimes we are thrown a curveball, and we have to pivot. Did that happen today? Absolutely, a number of times.”
Earlier Tuesday, Nardelli said the fire broke out in the electrical utility room of the hospital. He said it may have originated in a transformer in the basement. Fighting the blaze was complicated by the electrical nature of the fire and the danger it presented.
National Grid was on scene to cut power to the building, but once power was down, the hospital’s emergency generators kicked in, and they also had to be shut down, Nardelli said.
Power had not been restored as of Tuesday afternoon.
The fire caused severe damage to the hospital’s main electrical rooms, State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said.
“At this juncture, we do not believe this is anything other than accidental,” he said of a potential cause.
The Salvation Army Massachusetts sent canteen teams from Lynn and New Bedford to assist and provide support for firefighters and evacuees at the hospital. By noon, roughly 100 drinks had been served while 300 sandwiches and soups were being prepared, said Jordan Avery, the Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services team lead.
Antontine Louisne has worked as an interpreter at the hospital for six years. She noticed something off when she arrived at work in the morning and realized her coworkers weren’t in the office.
Louisne said she thought they were on a call, but she quickly learned everybody had to evacuate when she heard fire alarms going off and saw smoke in the building.
“I am glad that everybody is alive,” she said.
