At 1012 Sunday morning the Danville Fire Department received a call for a fire alarm activation at 142 South Main St., Danville Regional Medical Center. There was already a fire unit on scene at South Main St., clearing from a traffic accident. They investigated and found smoke inside of a mechanical room within the hospital. The first arriving officer called for other fire units due to the amount of smoke inside of the building. Upon investigation the fire officer found a vacuum pump that had malfunctioned causing heavy smoke to fill the room. In turn, the air conditioning/heating units carried the smoke through the ductwork to many areas of the hospital. A CO2 extinguisher was used to cool the vacuum pump while the power was being turned off to that piece of equipment. It took fire units working with hospital maintenance over two hours to clear the smoke from the hospital. 18 fire personnel, 4 fire engines, 1 ladder truck, 1 safety officer and 1 command officer were at the scene. There was no immediate danger to hospital workers or patients during the incident.
B.W. Scearce, Fire Captain
