Children evacuated during fire at Great Ormond Street Hospital » Health » 24dash.com

Patients and staff at Great Ormond Street children's hospital were evacuated today due to a fire, the chief executive said.

Dr Jane Collins said an unconfirmed number of day and inpatients were moved from the cardiac unit of the hospital in central London after reports of a fire and explosion.

Six fire engines and around 30 firefighters are currently at the scene.

Emergency services were called just after 8.30am to the specialist children's hospital in Great Ormond Street.

Day patients who arrived for treatment today were sent home, and inpatients moved to other parts of the hospital, Dr Collins said.

So far there are no reported injuries to children or staff, she added.

A worker in a newsagent near the hospital said he had been told the blaze was caused by a gas explosion, but London Fire Brigade could not confirm this.

The blaze follows a fire at the Royal Marsden Hospital in January this year, when dozens of patients were evacuated.

Flames tore through the roof and upper floors of the world-class specialist cancer hospital in Fulham Road, London.

Two wards and five operating theatres were damaged by the fire, and a number of patients were treated at the nearby Royal Brompton Hospital.

Four firefighters suffered minor injuries while tackling today's blaze, a spokeswoman for London Fire Brigade said.

She could not confirm the exact nature of the injuries, but said they had been treated at the scene.

Two ambulances and a hazardous area response team, which tackles sites with additional risk factors such as chemicals and gas canisters, were also sent to the hospital, the London Ambulance Service said.

Paramedics who treated the four firemen have yet to confirm whether any of them will be taken to hospital.

Police were directing traffic around the site and, once the blaze is extinguished, will assist London Fire Brigade in investigating the cause, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.