A fire broke out at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru today, four years after an incident that claimed six lives then.
The Johor Fire and Rescue Department confirmed the fire in the hospital’s female ward, with its head of public relations, Senior Assistant Fire Supt Abdul Rahman Azezulkifle Sahimi confirming that all patients in the wards had been safely evacuated.
“According to the operations commander, upon arrival at the scene, the Operations Response Team (PKO) confirmed a building fire took place involving the woman medical ward 1, Sultanah Aminah Hospital, Johor Bahru.
“The fire involved oxygen panels, vacuum, call bell and switch in bed number 5 in the ward.
There were 24 patients that were successfully evacuated by Sultanah Aminah Hospital staff that were on duty.
“In the incident, a hospital staff had tried to put out the fire with a dry fire extinguisher but failed and the fire had spread to the ceiling of the ward.
“Soon after the PKO arrive on location at 15:13 (3.13pm) and manage to contain the fire at 15:17 (3.17pm) with the fire being completely put out at 15:29 (3.29pm). No death was recorded from the fire,’’ he said, adding that exact cost of damages and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Four years ago, fire broke out in the intensive care unit of the Johor Baru general hospital and claimed the lives of six patients there.
An inquiry was subsequently conducted, and its findings reported by health news portal CodeBlue, where they pointed out that the hospital had been operating without a fire certificate, had faulty fire extinguishers and claimed staff were unprepared for fire-related emergencies.