TWO PEOPLE were injured yesterday following a fire in the kitchen area of Tallaght hospital in Dublin.
Both are in a stable condition and are being treated in the hospital’s emergency unit. They are contract employees, not hospital staff, and were working on the premises when the fire started.
Fire alarms detected smoke in the kitchen at about 11.40am and staff in the area were evacuated. No patients or staff were injured in the blaze, but dozens of patients were moved from units close to the kitchen as a precaution.
A spokeswoman for Dublin Fire Brigade said seven units were on the scene dealing with the blaze, which was contained to the kitchen area and was extinguished in the afternoon.
All outpatient appointments were cancelled and the hospital’s AE department was also closed.
Some minor procedures, scheduled for today, have also been deferred as a result of the blaze.
Most visitors to the hospital were refused entry into the building as management cancelled all visits for the remainder of the day.
At about 1pm at least 100 people were gathered outside the hospital’s main entrance waiting to enter the building, but most were turned away by hospital staff.
James Humphries witnessed the fire from an adjacent unit in the hospital and described how part of the kitchen roof collapsed as “a lot of black smoke” came out from the building.
Many of those waiting outside the main hospital entrance were planning to visit relatives but the crowd dispersed when hospital staff informed them that visiting hours were cancelled.
A spokesperson for the hospital said staff and patients had been moved away from the affected area and that alternative arrangements have been made to provide patients with meals.