Another fire hits PGH; third so far this year

Patients were temporarily evacuated after a fire broke out at the Philippine General Hospital in Ermita, Manila, early Monday morning.  —Official page of the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MANILA DRRMO)

MANILA, Philippines — Many patients at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Ermita, Manila, had to be temporarily evacuated after a fire broke out in the public hospital serving mostly indigents on Monday morning—the third so far this year.

According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the fire started around 6 a.m. in one of the rooms at the mezzanine of the PGH main building, which was being used by resident doctors as a “call room.”

The blaze reached the second alarm at 6:22 a.m. before it was finally put out by 7:08 a.m.

READ: Over 100 patients evacuated as fire hits PGH again

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire but according to BFP-Manila Fire District investigation chief Fire Senior Insp. Alejandro Ramos, they were looking at an air-conditioning unit that overheated “due to being overused.”

In a TV interview, PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario said the affected room’s ceiling, walls, and floors were not gutted, but office materials were burned. The initial estimate of property damage was P15,000.

Patients temporarily moved

While no one was injured in the fire, the smoke spread throughout the building, leading to the temporary evacuation of all patients in Wards 1 and 3 to the PGH Atrium. This also resulted in people seeking medical consultations at the Outpatient Department (OPD) to line up on Padre Faura Street.

All of the Wards 1 and 3 patients were eventually returned to their rooms by 8 a.m. after the smoke in the building had cleared. The OPD, which had been temporarily closed, was also reopened to incoming patients.

“We are back to normal operation,” Del Rosario said.

Monday’s fire was the third one to hit the PGH compound this year.

Electrical issues

On March 13 afternoon, a fire gutted the hospital’s audio-visual room at the back of Ward 1. This was followed by a small blaze on April 20 that started near the PGH emergency department. In both instances, the BFP pointed to electrical issues as the cause.

“We are doing our continuous rehabilitation project, including the inspection of the electrical wiring of our buildings,” Del Rosario said. At this time of writing, PGH officials were still waiting for the official report from the BFP, but they said that the area where the blaze broke out “had just been renovated after the previous fires.”

After the March 13 fire, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos directed the BFP National Capital Region to conduct a “comprehensive electrical system inspection” at the PGH to prevent another one from happening.

The latest incident also prompted Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to order government hospitals nationwide to check for fire hazards as a preventive measure.

The 116-year-old PGH is a tertiary hospital owned and operated by the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila. It is the largest training hospital in the country, estimated to have 4,000 employees who serve more than 600,000 patients a year, mostly indigents.

A P260-million budget has been appropriated to UP in the national budget this year for a line item that reads, “Establishment of Central Block Fire Suppression and Detection System and Life Safety Plan and Elevator Lobby Renovation, UP-PGH.” However, there is no update on this based on the second quarter financial statement released by UP.