LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / November 10, 2000

LAPLACE – There was a small fire at River Parishes Hospital Friday morning, but there was little damage and no injuries.

Sean Roussel, the hospital’s marketing and public relations director, said smoke from the fire was detected by sensors in a male patient’s room at the outer end of one of the hospital’s wings at 10:10 a.m.The sensor alarm was picked up by the switchboard operator, who sounded the Code Red alarm and notified the LaPlace Volunteer Fire Department.

The patient, uninjured by the fire, and 21 others in the medical-surgical wing were immediately evacuated to other sections of the hospital, Roussel said.

That wing of the hospital cares for patients either recovering from surgery or being treated for acute illness, Roussel added.

When the Code Red alarm sounded, he continued, smoke doors and firewalls came into place, sealing off the section from the rest of the hospital.

There were no injuries reported, and the fire was extinguished within 20 minutes, he said.

The exact cause of the fire was not known at press time. All that could beseen from the exterior were an air-conditioner vent covered with extinguisher foam and an open window where blinds were ripped aside.

“Our first priority was moving the patients,” Roussel said. “Everythingworked the way it was supposed to.”

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