Surgeries and endoscopies rescheduled after fire at Cambridge hospital

Cambridge Memorial Hospital has pushed back surgeries and endoscopies scheduled for Wednesday due to a fire at the facility the day before.

Staff, patients and visitors were evacuated Tuesday afternoon after flames broke out on the roof.

Roughly 20 firefighters from five different stations responded to the call, which was received at 1:15 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m., the Cambridge Fire Department said the flames were out and firefighters were checking smoke levels throughout the facility to ensure it was safe for people to return.

“The challenge with this fire is the smoke penetrations travelled to the floors, so we had to evacuate the entire hospital,” said John Percy, captain of fire prevention with Cambridge Fire.

Percy said the fire was contained to the area where it started in a fan unit on the roof of Wing B. Crews were utilizing fans systems to help clear the smoke. No one was hurt.

The evacuation ended at 5:30 p.m.

Officials say they tested the air quality and teams assessed the damage that was mostly from smoke and water.

Hospital staff say the affected wing did not have many patients because it was undergoing construction, but the fire still resulted in the hospital calling a code green.

"We really wanted to make sure that the areas were safe for patients," said Stephanie Persall, chief nursing executive for the hospital, speaking on Wednesday. "We're very hopeful that we will be back to business on Thursday."

Some patients had to be moved to other wings while the smoke cleared.

The hospital cancelled surgeries and endoscopies Wednesday as a result of the fire.

"Unfortunately, we are rescheduling endoscopies and surgeries Wednesday," Stephan Beckhoff, spokesperson for the hospital, said on Wednesday. "We are calling all affected patients. We just do not yet know the extent of cleaning that needs to be done to ensure the environment is safe."