The Associated Press
LONDON — A fire broke out early Monday at one of Britain’s biggest children’s hospitals, injuring four firefighters and forcing the hospital’s cardiac wing to evacuate.
The fire began on the 5th floor in the cardiac wing at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Patients there were moved to another part of the hospital. No patients or staff were injured in the fire, the hospital reported.
Patients scheduled for outpatient procedures Monday were sent home, the hospital’s chief executive, Dr. Jane Collins, said.
The firefighters were transported to another hospital for treatment and the fire was under control by late morning.
A gas cylinder is suspected to have been involved in the fire, although the exact cause of the blaze is under investigation.
The hospital was founded in 1852 as the Hospital for Sick Children, making it the first hospital providing beds specifically for children in the English-speaking world.
In his will, author J.M. Barrie bequeathed the hospital the copyrights to his children’s classic “Peter Pan.”