Staff working at Aintree University Hospital said that it smelled like "burning rubber" when a fire broke out in the early hours of the morning.
Emergency services were alerted to the fire at 4.34am on Wednesday (August 10) and were on scene by 4.40am. Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service attended.
They found that there was a fire in a plant building on the roof of a three-storey building next to Accident & Emergency. Patients were evacuated from nearby areas while firefighters worked to tackle the blaze.
READ MORE: Aintree hospital A&E department closed after fire
Security staff told the ECHO that the evacuation was "slick" and there were no reported casualties. However, staff and patients - including some on beds - had to wait outside the entry to the Emergency Department while fire fighters dealt with the incident.
Some members of staff were not allowed into certain areas of the hospital when they arrived for their shifts at around 7.30am. An employee, who was heading home after working a night shift in the neighbouring building to the Emergency Department, told the ECHO that she thought she could smell "burning rubber" at around 4.30am.
Another member of staff said that she was "shocked" to see the emergency vehicles as she arrived at work. She told the ECHO that she had not been aware of the fire until she got off the bus outside the hospital.
Merseyside Police cordoned off the road in front of the emergency department, while vehicles were being marshalled away from the drop off entrance on Lower Lane. At the incident's peak, there were 10 fire engines on scene as crews worked to ensure the fire did not spread beyond the plant building.
However, firefighting operations were still in progress in a battery storage room in the building at 10am, where crews monitored temperatures with on-site engineers and firefighters formulated plans to remove the affected batteries to a place of safety.
At the scene just after 9.30am, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service Area Manager Ged Sheridan told the ECHO that damage had been contained to the plant room, but he did expect there to be infrastructural damage.
He said: "Crews were mobilised in the early hours of this morning to a confirmed fire in a roof area of the plant room of the main hospital site. On arrival, hospital staff had already begun part of the evacuation as a precautionary measure.
"We did see patients evacuated outside in line with the business continuity arrangements. We had supporting appliances from Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service and we ultimately brought 10 fire engines to deal with the incident - to resolve the incident on the roof space but also to assist staff in evacuation purposes and then thankfully getting people back into the wards and an area of safety as soon as possible.
"The fire has been contained so the next step is full investigation into the cause of the fire. We’re ventilating and working on a multi-agency point of view on the hospital site to ensure that all of the areas can be fit for use following a clinical assessment and the site can operate safely.
“In terms of damage, it is contained to the plant room and to the battery compartment that seems to be the area of focus. Thankfully the fire did not spread - that was down to the quick actions of the fire fighting crews and the actions of the staff.
"In terms of significant area of damage to the hospital, it is minimal. There’s going to be infrastructural damage in terms of cabling, power supplies and that’s to the estate staff to look at and investigate now. They’ll look at the full impact of the fire and any remedial action that needs to be taken today.”
As a result of the incident, the hospital's A&E department has been closed temporarily. A spokesperson for the hospital trust said: "Our A&E at Aintree is temporarily closed until further notice. Please seek alternative treatment for urgent and emergency care. All outpatient appointments and planned surgery will continue as normal. Thank you for your support and patience."
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