Dive Brief:
- A two-alarm fire broke out in a building under construction next to Tisch Hospital on the NYU Langone Medical Center campus, NBC News New York reported.
- No one was injured in the blaze, which firefighters had under control within an hour.
- The Fire Department determined that the fire was accidental, caused by a spark from cutting metal, NBC News New York noted.
Dive Insight:
The blaze erupted on the seventh floor rooftop of the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion, an 830,000-square-foot clinical facility located adjacent to the flagship Tisch Hospital. The fire was reported shortly after noon, and firefighters extinguished it by approximately 12:45 pm.
The Pavilion, which is being constructed concurrently with the renovation of Tisch Hospital, is slated to open in 2018.
A hospital spokesperson said that some patients in rooms on the north side of Tisch Hospital were temporarily moved as a precaution but were returned to their rooms the same day.
Fire officials stated that the blaze was accidental and that construction materials, which were highly flammable, contributed to the thick smoke. As of 1:30 pm Wednesday, the extent of damage was still being investigated, according to the NYU Langone Medical Center Facebook page.