Fire at Helen Joseph Hospital

Johannesburg emergency medical services have confirmed that a fire broke out at the city’s Helen Joseph Hospital on Sunday morning.

Details about the blaze were not immediately available but EMS officials confirmed it had been extinguished and there appear to have been no casualties.

The Democratic Alliance’s health spokesman for Gauteng‚ Jack Bloom‚ said it appeared that a storeroom went up in flames‚ but that the fire had been brought under control by firefighters.

  He expressed his concern about the incident which he said followed a a fire in May this year at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg on the East Rand and raised questions about fire prevention at hospitals in the province.

“Fortunately‚ in both cases the fire did not affect wards with patients‚ but we might not be so lucky next time‚” Bloom said.

Many hospital buildings were sorely in need of maintenance and repair that would assist in fire prevention‚ he added.

“A fire inspection audit should be done at all Gauteng hospitals to ensure that fire controls are adequate.”