A&E evacuated as air-con unit sparks fire alert

Felix Allen12 April 2012

A hospital casualty department was evacuated in a fire alert when a new air-conditioning unit belched out clouds of choking dust.

Whittington Hospital's A&E staff thought the building, in Archway, was ablaze and moved 20 patients to safety. The unit shut for three hours and ambulances were diverted to other London casualty departments before firefighters gave the all-clear.

It later emerged the alert, two weeks ago, was caused by the more powerful air conditioning blowing out 12 years of debris from a ventilation shaft. A fire officer said: "It was a massive dust cloud that looked like clouds of smoke."

A Whittington spokesman said all ambulance patients needing emergency treatment were safely redirected to other hospitals.

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