Pretoria – The Gauteng department of health on Wednesday, said the smouldering fire which was detected in an unused parking bay at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital has been brought under control.
“Late on Tuesday night, security personnel reported that there was smoke that seemed to be coming from one of the structures. Firefighters for the City of Joburg immediately responded to the situation and managed to contain the fire which was confined to a small section of the level two parking,” said Gauteng department of health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba.
He said police officers from the Hillbrow police station also attended the scene.
“The level two parking is one of the areas that was affected by the April 2021 fire and is currently under props and not accessible to the public or staff except for construction people,” Modiba said.
“Upon assessment of the situation clinicians on site together with the facility’s head of disaster made a call that the situation did not warrant for patients to be evacuated as the smoke from the fire was not too thick or high risk for inhalation.”
He said services at the facility continue to be rendered “as normal”.
“The status quo is currently being closely monitored by the multidisciplinary team that is on site to further assess the situation. The cause of the fire is being investigated,” Modiba said.
In April last year, patients were moved to other hospitals in Gauteng, particularly the Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Tshwane District Hospital, after the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital was gutted by fire.
In August, the Gauteng department of health has opened a case of theft at the Hillbrow police station in Joburg after several appliances were stolen at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital after the fire outbreak.
In May, the Gauteng department of health confirmed that a fire had broken out at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in Pretoria.
“The fire, which affected temporary structures at the facility, was successfully put out by the SBAH hospital team, using the fire extinguishers on site,” said then Gauteng health spokesperson Kwara Kekana.
“Thankfully, there were no patients or staff casualties. Eighteen patients and one corpse that were in separate temporary structures close to where the fire broke out had to be moved to other areas of the hospital as a safety precaution.”
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