A fire that broke out Monday evening at the Independencia hospital in Porto Alegre, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, caused panic among hospitalized patients, staff and nearby residents, but ended without serious casualties. Two buildings of the hospital complex in the Agronomia area had to be urgently evacuated.
The fire occurred in the building attached to the main building, where part of the wards is located, for reasons that have not yet been fully clarified, starting from the top floor and quickly filling the entire area with thick smoke. 58 hospitalized people had to be removed from this building by any possible means, and stretchers and beds with hospitalized patients were lined up on the sidewalk in front of the house under the supervision of doctors and nurses.
In the main building, which was not damaged by the fire but was smoke-damaged, five people admitted in serious condition to the intensive care unit, the Intensive Care Center, could not be taken out because they were intubated, but received special care to minimize the impact of the situation. When firefighters finally managed to contain the flames, some of the hospitalized patients returned to less damaged hospital rooms, while the rest were transferred to other hospitals in the city.