Fire Forces Orlando Hospital Evacuation

Sept. 3, 2009
The fire was caused by a patient smoking in bed. The fire was extinquished by staff, but smoke filled the hospital.

ORLANDO, Fla. --

Fire prompted the evacuation of a floor at Florida Hospital-East Orlando on Thursday.

Fire prompts the evacuation of a floor at Florida Hospital-East Orlando.

Hospital officials said a patient was smoking in bed on the hospital's fourth floor when the bed caught fire.

Staff members were able to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters removed the mattress and set up fans to try to clear the smoke.

"Everybody was prepared. The hospital staff was prepared for it. They all did a great job on their evacuation. Everyone knew what they had to do, and everything ran real smooth," Orange County Fire Department Battalion Chief Doug Brown said.

Smoke did spread throughout the floor, and because many of the people on the floor were respiratory patients, they were moved to other parts of the building.

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