Steve Biko Hospital patients move back into wards after fire

Twenty-one (21) patients have been moved back into their wards after a fire broke out at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Tshwane.

These 20 adults and one paediatric patient (child) were temporarily moved out of the hospital’s cardiac and paediatric intensive care units (ICUs) when the facility’s backup power caught fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Three fire stations sent a combined force of at least six units to the scene to contain the fire. Thankfully, no one was injured.

Air sampled after hospital fire

The Gauteng Department of Health confirmed on Monday afternoon that the patients were moved back to their original wards as of Sunday afternoon.

“This comes after the successful sampling for the air which cleared the wards of any dangerous gases and the smoke odour was neutralised,” a department statement read.

“The intensive care unit wards have undergone thorough cleaning to maintain a hygienic environment.”

The department said the patients had been “promptly relocated” to other units as a precautionary measure. This was when “dense smoke filled a part of the hospital after an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) unit, which had a leak, caught fire in the plant room”.

A contractor is on-site to replace the damaged UPS system.

Dockets destroyed in fire at Barberton Police Station

Archived dockets were destroyed when a fire broke out at Barberton Police Station’s archive office last Thursday.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdhluli said the cause of the fire is being investigated. No one was hurt and the extent of the damage must still be confirmed.

“According to a report, members of the South Africa Police Service [Saps] noticed smoke emanating from the office. [They] immediately alerted authorities,” Mdhluli said

“Firefighters were called to the scene and successfully extinguished the fire. Fortunately, no injuries were reported during the incident. Some archived dockets were burnt, though the figures are yet to be determined.”