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| Texas Hospital Fire Forces Evacuation of Inmates |
| By Galveston Daily News |
| Published: 04/19/2002 |
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An errant flame from a welder's torch reportedly sparked a fire on Thursday that destroyed the 10-story incinerator tower that rises alongside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Hospital at UTMB. No serious injuries were reported, although the fire did prompt the evacuation of 127 inmates from the three top floors of the prison hospital to secure areas lower in the building, university officials said. The tower runs up the northeast wall of the building, which is used to treat the majority of the state's inmate population. Four staff members were treated for minor smoke inhalation, said Greg Kunkel, chief of Galveston EMS. Before the fire was under control, witnesses saw flames leaping skyward with thick black smoke. The spark came during renovations to the $12-million incinerator, which must meet emission standards handed down by the Environmental Protection Agency. Much of the tower collapsed as a result of the blaze and the top appeared to hang precariously from guy wires off the side of the building. The fire, described by fire chief Danny Weber as a three-alarm event, required equipment and personnel from all six of the island's stations. Reserves were called in to man the island's stations. Corrections officers moved the inmates from the eighth, seventh and sixth floors to the third floor, said Richard McFee, vice president of operations for UTMB. Critical medical personnel and officers stayed with the inmates while nonessential staffers were evacuated from the building, he said. Correction officers armed with shotguns did ring the hospital as the fire was extinguished, said Kenneth Negbenebor, warden of the hospital. 'Basically, any time you have an incident you establish a perimeter,' he said. 'It's standard procedure.' The transfer of inmates to the hospital's lower floors was orderly and the inmates remained in secure areas at all times, he said. 'It went pretty well,' Negbenebor said. 'It went smoothly.' UTMB owns the building and administers all medical care. The department of criminal justice handles all security and shares administrative duties with UTMB officials. |
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