The blaze involved roof-mounted solar panels at St Michael’s Hospital
Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) were called out to reports of a fire at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol around 16:30 on Thursday 22 May. Crews from Temple, Yate, Southmead, Bedminster, Hicks Gate, Patchway, Kingswood, Nailsea, Avonmouth, and Weston-Super-Mare were deployed and were met with an established fire as thick black smoke rose from the roof of the building.
A spokesperson for AFRS said: “Upon arrival, crews located a fire on the roof of the building and began firefighting efforts.”
The hospital was partially evacuated at the time of the incident, with pregnant women, babies, staff, and some equipment moved to safety, with the Bristol University Life Sciences building used to house some women whilst the incident was ongoing. Speaking to BBC News, a man whose wife was in labour reported that the hospital said that “all partners had to leave”.
St Michael’s provides a range of facilities including maternity services (a midwifery led unit and central delivery suite), gynaecology, and gynae-oncology, with around 5,000 babies born there each year.
No injuries or casualties were reported and AFRS reported the fire extinguished within an hour, with firefighters remaining on site for monitoring purposes. In a statement, hospital managing director for University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Prof Stuart Walker, said:
“The hospital, including the delivery suite, has now reopened to women who need to access our services and people with appointments tomorrow should attend as planned". He also praised the staff for their efforts in the safe evacuation of the building, calling them “amazing”.
The cause of the fire is unknown, although pictures show damage to a number of the roof-mounted solar panels, which were installed in 2019.
AFRS confirmed that a full investigation into the cause of the fire will take place following the incident.