40 patients at Westmoreland Hospital moved after small fire

GREENSBURG — Nearly 40 patients at the Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital had to be moved after a small fire broke out on the seventh floor roof.

According to Tom Chakurda, the chief marketing and communications officer for the hospital, at 11:15 a.m. Friday, bearings froze in an air handler on the seventh floor roof of the hospital .

This resulted in a small fire within the handler that was contained and extinguished by internal fire response teams.

The fire caused smoke to enter patient rooms on three surrounding floors. The affected patients were then moved to more secure areas of the hospital. The process was executed in a calm and coordinated fashion and, according to Chakurda, at no time was patient care compromised.

A fire crew is at the hospital to help clear smoke and deliver fresh air to the units effected.

Chakurda said that they expect to return to normal operations within several hours.

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