Smoke from fire at hospital in Listowel, Ont. to close some beds for weeks

A fire at Listowel Memorial Hospital in Listowel, Ont. on Tuesday morning left the emergency room closed for the day and is expected to leave the hospital without full access to some beds for weeks.

The North Perth Fire Department says that they responded to a call about the fire at 9:28 a.m.

“The fire was contained to the room of origin, located in the north wing of the second floor,
which is currently undergoing construction,” a release  read. “There were no injuries as a result of this incident.”

The fire department says the fire was caused by electrical equipment.

“The property has since been released to the Listowel Memorial Hospital and our crews have returned to their respective stations,” the release said.

The hospital said that all staff and patients were evacuated and have been accounted for.

“Due to smoke damage on both the first and second floor inpatient units, hospital inpatients are being
transferred to seven neighbouring regional hospitals,” a release from the hospital explained.

“The Listowel Memorial Hospital Emergency Department is currently open for urgent patients
only. Non-urgent patients are advised to seek care at other hospitals.”

The hospital says that all surgical operations which were to take place at the hospital through Thursday have been cancelled and that patients should expect a call to rebook.

“Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic Imaging will be open as normal on Wednesday,” the release said. “Air quality testing and restoration is underway.

“We do not anticipate having full access to our  inpatient beds for several weeks.”

Perth County OPP were also at the scene but a spokesperson told Global News that they were just there to assist with traffic.