February 9, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Fire and Steam Cause Scare at LSUHSC’s New Women’s and Children’s Center

Fire officials are saying that a fire yesterday evening inside of a maintenance building on the grounds of Louisiana State University Health and Sciences Center’s (LSUHSC) new Women’s and Children’s Center, 1602 Kings Highway, damaged a heater control unit, causing a newly installed boiler to malfunction and produce a large amount of dangerously hot steam.

Fire officials at 911 received a call at 5:21 p.m. from Gerteis Motors, 1702 Kings Highway, reporting what appeared to be a large amount of smoke coming from the building. Fire officials reported not being able to procure a key to the building from hospital maintenance or security personnel and were forced to brake into the building. Once inside, firefighters found the once thought of "smoke" to actually be steam. The heat and intensity of the steam were overwhelming initially, said Captain Johnny Hammond. The gauge on the boiler’s thermostat maxed out at 180 degrees, and the needle was way past that, Hammond added.

When the steam was cleared out of the building, a heating unit that controlled the boiler and surrounding insulation was found to have been damaged by fire. That fire was apparently extinguished by the steam produced by the malfunctioning boiler before firefighters arrived. Elaborating, fire officials said the steam, although produced as a result of the fire, contributed to its extinguishment and may have actually been instrumental in saving the building from further fire damage.

An electrical short in the heating unit that controlled the boiler has been determined by fire investigators to be the cause of the fire. Damages are estimated to be in excess of $10,000. Because the boiler supplied the new Women’s and Children’s Center with their hot water, they will be without until crews can repair the damaged boiler.

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