Alarms were set off on Friday morning when a pipe burst at Victoria General Hospital (VGH).
The pipe, which burst around 8:30 a.m. on December 30th, caused two maintenance workers to be injured and they are now receiving medical care.
View Royal Fire Chief, Paul Hurst told Victoria Buzz the fire crews were told on arrival there was a broken pipe that was releasing steam and hot water that had set off the alarms which triggered their response.
“Crews went to investigate and found a four inch hot water line, connected to the boiler lines, had broken while it was being worked on.”
“The hot water and steam coming out sprayed the workers,” Hurst told Victoria Buzz. “They’ve got significant, serious burns.”
The injured workers are being treated at the Royal Jubilee Hospital’s burn unit.
The steam affected an area of the hospital where no patients are treated, but damages from the flooding are significant.
“The issue was of course the hot water coming down the hallway,” said Hurst. “When crews got there, there was zero visibility in the hallway from the stream.”
“They had to access the [shutoff] valve by getting access to the ceiling space about 10 or 12 feet up and shut the water down.”
After the valve was shut off, fire crews remained to help remove water to reduce damage.
Chief Hurst said that thankfully the hospital was able to remain open although the situation did temporarily affect the intake of patients.
Island Health issued a statement to provide information on a temporary disruption to the hospital’s workflow shortly after the incident.
The health authority said repairs to the mechanical equipment that was damaged are underway.
In the aftermath of the incident, ambulances bound for the VGH emergency room were rerouted to the Royal Jubilee Hospital for two hours.
Island Health says the emergency department remains open and it is able to provide emergency care.
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