Fire On Second Floor at Hospital; No Injuries, No Structural Damage

Effingham firefighters were called to HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham Sunday evening to handle what hospital officials termed a small electrical fire.

The call came about 5:30pm in the Same Day Surgery area of the hospital. A statement from the hospital indicates that the area was not occupied by patients at the time of the fire and hospital staff, along with the Effingham Fire Department were able to contain the fire to that area. No evacuation of personnel was necessary.

The Same Day Surgery area, which is located on the second floor of the Prairie Heart Building, sustained minor smoke damage and cleanup was underway Sunday evening. The hospital indicates damage is minimal to the area, so surgeries will continue as scheduled today.

No one was injured, and Effingham Fire Chief Joe Holomy said there was no structural damage. 

The hospital's statement also shared, "We are grateful to our hospital colleagues who responded quickly at the fire detection alarms, which operated as expected and immediately activated our emergency protocols that aided in the containment of the fire. We'd also like to thank the Effingham Fire Department for their timely and efficient response to this event."

Firefighters cleared the scene shortly after 7pm.