A hospital in Louisville evacuated because of the Marshall fire sustained extensive smoke damage and the facility will be closed “for the foreseeable future,” hospital officials said Friday.
The campus of Avista Adventist Hospital did not sustain “direct fire damage,” according to a news release. On Thursday, hospital staff fought back flames with water hoses, keeping the fire away from highly flammable oxygen tanks on the west side of the building, “avoiding what could have been a catastrophic explosion.”
The hospital is currently without natural gas and is using diesel power generators to run the boiler and heat systems.
“The high winds were driving the fire straight toward our hospital on the north side, so to return hours later and find no significant damage is truly a miracle,” said Isaac Sendros, hospital CEO, in the release. “We are eternally grateful and thankful to the first responders who responded with urgency and have tirelessly worked since the fire first erupted in our community.”
At about 4:15 p.m. Thursday, the hospital was fully evacuated as the damaging fire came dangerously close. All patients were transferred to two sister facilities within Centura Health network — Longmont United Hospital and St. Anthony North.
Crews were at Avista on Friday, cleaning the smoke damage and assessing measures to reopen the facility.
