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Jan 10, 12:04 est Sick Kids still limping under emergency power

By Louise Surette Staff reporter thestar.com (Toronto Star)

The Hospital for Sick Children is still operating under emergency power in three of its wings today and hundreds of non-essential staff working in those areas have the day off.

Toronto Hydro says full power should be restored by mid-afternoon and the the hospital has set up a hotline for anyone seeking an update. The number is: (416) 813-8999.

A fire last night in a hydro vault under the building's Elm St. wing forced the evacuation of nine infants. Dozens more were transferred to other parts of the hospital when smoke billowed into the hospital's central atrium. Nobody was hurt.

The area affected by the fire is mainly used for research, administration and outpatient clinics. It is the older part of the hospital and comprises the Elm, Gerrard and Black wings.

All outpatient clinics in the annex were cancelled and elsewhere in the hospital scheduled catscans were cancelled. All other facilities, including the emergency room, are running as usual.

A Toronto Hydro spokesperson says power was restored to both the hospital and the surrounding area at 5 a.m., but power has been shut down at the affected area in the hospital until repairs can be made.

The fire broke out at 6 p.m. in a generator vault under the hospital's Elm St. wing and affected the area bounded by University Ave., Mutual St., Dundas St. and College St., forcing some businesses to close early.

http://www.thestar.com/thestar/editorial/updates/news/200001110_WEB-SICK10.html

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), January 10, 2000

Answers

Thanks for this, silver ion. The following article has most of what yours says, with the addition of one word: "explosions."

Toronto hospital fire

(for educational purposes only)

"Canada Mon Jan 10, 10:18 am

Power restored at Toronto hospital

The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto has cancelled several of its clinics after an electrical fire forced the evacuation of the pediatric wing.

No one was hurt. But explosions, located in a hydro vault, knocked out the power to part of the hospital and to a section of the downtown.

The power is back on now. The explosions happened just after 6 p.m. ET Sunday.

As crews fought the flames, almost 60 children were moved from their beds as a precaution.

There was dense black smoke and some of it got into the hospital's atrium. Hospital spokesperson Cindy DeGuisti says the neo-natal intensive care unit and the intensive care unit were evacuated. Nine premature babies had to be moved across the street to Mount Sinai Hospital.

All clinic and diagnostic imaging appointments in the Elm, Gerrard, and Black Family wings are cancelled for today.

All surgeries will go ahead as scheduled and all patient-care staff should report for work. However, non-essential administrative and research staff who work in the Annex part of Sick Kids are being told to stay home."

(end of article)

I know--not y2k-related, this happens all the time, blah blah.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), January 10, 2000.