NEWPORT BEACH : Fire Forces Outpatient Evacuation

A small fire at a medical building in Newport Center on Wednesday morning forced the evacuation of about 300 people for several hours, fire officials said.

The fire at the Newport Imaging Center, an eight-story facility for outpatient treatment, began about 8:28 a.m. in the elevator control room and was brought under control within minutes, said Capt. Randy Scheerer, public information officer at the Newport Beach Fire Department.

No one was injured, but firefighters were worried that fumes from a bank of 24 batteries that exploded in the elevator control room could pose a health hazard, Fire Chief Timothy D. Riley said. The batteries provide backup power for the building’s three elevators.

Damage was contained to the elevator control room, firefighters said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“We could smell burned rubber or wax,” said Dr. Ron Davies, a dentist and anesthesiologist at the center. “Everyone was calm, although the alarm hadn’t gone off yet. (Firefighters) told us not to use the elevators and to be prepared to leave the building.”

Firefighters allowed surgical procedures already in progress on the fourth and seventh floors to continue while other patients, some still under sedation, were escorted out of the building.

One patient who was about to have full dental reconstructive surgery was wheeled out of the center and waited several hours in his car for firefighters to control the blaze, Davies said.

“It’s a good thing (the surgery) hadn’t started,” Davies said. He said the patient “was very calm. He was under sedation, so he was relaxed.”

Some employees waiting in the parking lot said they did not hear a fire alarm until half an hour after the blaze started. They said they were accustomed to monthly fire drills but were concerned that when an actual fire happened, the system apparently failed.

“We were already out of the building when we heard the fire alarm,” said Klara Werner, a medical assistant on the fourth floor. “I don’t think the evacuation was well organized. We have a fire drill every month, and in a real fire, (the alarm) doesn’t come on. Half of the building evacuated on their own when they smelled the fire.”

But Scheerer said it is possible that some employees ignored the alarm, dismissing it as a routine drill.

Debby Crabaugh, a registered nurse in orthopedics, said she heard the alarm, “but it was very faint. I didn’t pay it much attention until I started smelling smoke.”

Despite the confusion over the alarm, employees and patients were safely escorted out of the building by firefighters.

“The patients did really well,” said Crabaugh. “They were laughing and talking.”

Those evacuated were allowed back into the building at 11:16 a.m. after firefighters determined that the structure was free of any hazardous fumes, Fire Capt. Dave Bowman said.

More than 50 firefighters from Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and Orange County responded to the blaze.