Memorial Hospital is located at 2525 de Sales Avenue in Chattanooga.Patients and staff at a Memorial Hospital building had to be evacuated today after smoke from a construction fire wafted into its corridors.
Construction workers at the hospital were using cutting torches to remove a temporary walkway to the second floor of the Chattanooga Heart Institute building when a rubber gasket caught on fire, said Chattanooga Fire Department Battalion Chief Charles Patton.
The smoke drifted into the building, setting off the smoke alarms.
Memorial Hospital spokesperson Lisa McCluskey said the staff evacuated about 28 patients safely to other parts of the building. There were no injuries to the staff or patients.
Patton said the workers used portable fire extinguishers to put out the small fire. There was no damage to the building. After confirming that the fire was out, firefighters used high-powered fans to ventilate the building.
The hospital is in the process of reopening rooms that were evacuated, and the emergency department and operating rooms are all operating as normal.