THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 16, 1995 TAG: 9509160285
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Quick thinking by employees was credited with averting what could have been a major fire Friday afternoon at the Outer Banks Medical Center.
No one was hurt, but the clinic was closed to allow smoke to be cleared from the building. Hospital personnel said they expected the clinic to reopen later Friday evening.
Units from the Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Roanoke Island volunteer fire departments responded at 1:55 p.m.
Dare County Emergency Medical Services personnel, Nags Head police and Dare County sheriff's deputies also rushed to the center when the fire was reported.
Only two patients were in the outpatient clinic when the fire started on a stove in the employee lounge. The patients and employees left the building without incident.
``Employees were apparently boiling some water, and the fire started,'' said Dare County Fire Marshal Doug Remaley. ``They managed to put the fire out with an extinguisher. But smoke spread throughout the building.
``It's a good thing they responded quickly,'' Remaley said. ``It could have been bad.''
Heavy smoke prompted closure of the facility, according to Terry Collins, Nags Head Fire Department spokesman.
Patients were referred to North Beach Medical Center until the Nags Head facility could reopen.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB