Fire at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital laundry area contained
No system and laundry machines were affected by the fire and no one got injured.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. Picture: Supplied.
The Gauteng health department has confirmed that a small fire that broke out at a laundry area at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) in Soweto on Sunday was contained.
The department’s spokesperson Kwara Kekana said the fire broke out early on Sunday morning in one of the back offices of the laundry area of the hospital.
Kekana said no system and laundry machines were affected by the fire and no one got injured.
“The office included a small laundry storeroom, used to store laundry which a portion was unfortunately burnt,” she said in a statement.
“The fire has not impacted clinical, and laundry services in the facility. Laundry services are running as normal in the hospital.”
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Kekana said the fire was contained by the CHBAH team who were onsite using fire extinguishers.
“The City of Johannesburg Fire was called and has since left the site, after assessing the situation and confirming that the fire was completely extinguished.”
The provincial health department said from its observations, it appeared that a heater found in the back office could have caused the fire.
However, further investigations will be done by the relevant authorities on the actual cause of the fire.
The fire happened as South Africa is in the grips of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Gauteng province being the country’s hotspot of infections.
In April, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital was forced to close after a fire gutted several sections of the facility.
Thousands of patients had to be transferred to other health facilities in the province, including CHBAH, with some complaining about the lack of coordination in diverting patients.
On Friday, acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said Charlotte Maxeke Hospital will be reopened in phases, starting with the oncology department next week.
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