What happened at the Southside Regional Medical Centre, Petersburg, Virginia in 1994?

On 31 December 1994 a fire broke out at the Southside Regional Medical Centre in Petersburg, Virginia. It would tragically claim the lives of four patients.

How did the Petersburg hospital fire start?

A patient was smoking while in their hospital bed which ignited the bedding including the air flotation mattress and plastic padding. The release of oxygen from the burning mattress caused the fire to intensify.

The door to the room was not closed which allowed smoke and hot gases to pass into the corridor. In addition the firewall compartments were not to the underside of the roof structure or underside of the floor above, allowing smoke and heat to pass into concealed spaces.

The patient in the room of origin tragically died when the room was consumed by the fully developed fire. The dividing walls between patient areas were not fully extended to the underside of the ceiling, which breached the wall integrity. This would result in the deaths of three other patients.

What can the industry learn from the Petersburg hospital fire?

A National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report concluded:

• There was a delay in detecting the fire
• There was further delay from the fire alarm transmission to the fire department as the connection as out of service and not addressed in a timely manner
• A lack of passive protection meant that the rapid fire spread led to untenable conditions in a short space of time
• Fire doors that should have been closed were left open
• There was no sprinkler system in the room of origin or corridor
• There was no automatic smoke detection in the patient’s room
• A lack of staff training meant that after the fire was discovered no one closed the door to the room, allowing the fire to spread