LAHORE:An ageing air conditioner was behind the fire that filled part of the Children’s Hospital Lahore boys’ hostel with smoke on Thursday, according to a preliminary report submitted after the incident. Nobody was hurt.
According to the report, the fire broke out in Room No. 511 on the hostel’s fifth floor. The report says a spark ignited an old, non-inverter air conditioner installed in the room, and the flames then spread to the curtains hanging beneath it.
Hostel staff acted immediately and brought the fire under control within roughly three to five minutes, the report says, adding that the assistance of Rescue 1122 was not required. It acknowledges, however, that a significant amount of smoke was generated.
Professor Masood Sadiq, Vice Chancellor of the University of Child Health Sciences (UCHS), said that, fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries. He added that nothing was damaged apart from the old air conditioner.
Early reports broadly matched the official account but differed on some details. A private TV channel quoted the hospital’s Managing Director, Dr Tipu Sultan, as saying the fire started in the air conditioner’s power plug. The same report also said the hospital administration had called Rescue 1122, which differs from the preliminary report’s statement that Rescue 1122 was not needed.
Another media outlet reported that smoke spread inside the building and caused panic among people present. Both outlets described the building as the doctors’ hostel, while the official statement refers to it as the boys’ hostel.
Thursday’s fire was not the first scare at the hospital this month. On September 17, smoke spread through the building after a fire broke out in the emergency elevator, and that firefighters brought it under control.
The Children’s Hospital on Ferozepur Road is one of the country’s largest public paediatric facilities, which makes any fire on its premises, even in a hostel block, a matter of public concern.
The incident comes a month after the fire at Islamabad’s PIMS hospital that killed 14 newborns. CNN reported at the time that rescue sources suspected an air-conditioning compressor explosion had triggered that blaze.
In the weeks since, The Lahore Times has reported on fire safety failures at Lahore’s five biggest government hospitals. The Punjab government has since ordered fire hydrants around all major government hospitals and formed a technical task force on hospital fire safety. Days later, 70 people were evacuated after a fire at Lahore General Hospital, again without casualties.
The preliminary report places the cause squarely on old equipment. Ageing air conditioners, worn wiring and overloaded plugs are a common source of electrical fires in Pakistan, particularly after a long summer of heavy use.
The statement did not say how many similar units remain in use in the hostel or the wider hospital, whether an electrical audit will follow, or whether the final report will recommend replacing old appliances. It also did not explain how the smoke was cleared or whether residents were evacuated.
The report is described as preliminary, and a fuller account can be expected.
Leave a Reply