At least 35 patients were evacuated from a portion of UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange Tuesday morning after smoke was spotted in the building’s emergency room.
“Currently the (emergency) department is empty and we’re diverting emergency patients to other hospitals while we clear the smoke from the emergency department,” hospital spokesman John Murray told reporters Tuesday morning.
Firefighters responded to the hospital at 101 The City Drive South about 2:05 a.m. and determined the smoke was caused by a generator in the hospital’s basement that had caught fire, according to Metro Cities Fire Authority.
The fire was out upon firefighters’ arrival and crews assisted with removing smoke from the building, the fire authority said.
At least 35 patients were moved from the emergency room to another part of the complex, ABC7 reported. It was unclear when those patients would be returned to their rooms.
No injuries were reported.