FREMONT — Firefighters contained a two-alarm fire to the electrical panel where it started and “averted a disaster” Friday at a convalescent hospital, fire officials said.
The blaze in the 3900 block of Presidio Way started about 12:25 p.m. inside the panel and did not spread beyond the wall, Fremont Fire Batallion Chief Gary Ashley said. Crews sounded the second alarm because they were concerned that it may take several people to evacuate the residents of the facility, he said.
Instead, they were able to keep “about 90 percent” of them safe by sheltering them in place.
“Everybody else, we were able to move to a wing of the facility that was not affected,” Ashley said.
The lobby filled with smoke, but nobody was injured.
“It had the potential to be really bad,” Ashley said. “Based on the use of the facility and the age of the patients and the difficulty that would’ve been required in moving them, we really averted a disaster.”
Fire crews used a smoke ejector — similar to a giant fan — to blow out the smoke in the lobby. The smoke hovered close to the ceiling, Ashley said.
A few ambulances remained at the scene past 1:30 p.m. as a precaution, Ashley said. The residents were going to be moved back to their rooms when it was deemed safe.
