Trafford General: Lightning strike sets hospital roof on fire
- Published
Flames could be seen coming from the roof of the building
A fire broke out at a hospital after it was struck by lightning during heavy thunderstorms.
Part of the roof at Trafford General Hospital in Greater Manchester caught fire at about 14:20 BST.
Patients and staff had to exit the two-storey building when it was evacuated, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said.
The fire was extinguished by about 16:15 but significant damage has been caused to the roof space.
A spokeswoman for the trust said 66 patients had been safely evacuated to other parts of the hospital and relatives had been informed.
The Trafford Minor Injuries Unit had been closed as a precaution, she said, adding: "For all urgent and emergency care issues, please use alternative facilities including ringing NHS 111."
The unit is expected to reopen on Thursday but all day case procedures have been cancelled, she added.
Fire crews took two hours to put the fire out at Trafford General
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue area manager Carlos Meakin praised hospital staff who "safely evacuated staff and patients prior to our arrival, relocating them to other wards, which was a big help".
Moorside Road in Flixton was closed in both directions, external and local bus services were being diverted, Transport for Greater Manchester said.
Fire crews are expected to stay at the scene overnight.
Heavy thunderstorms swept across parts of North West England throughout the afternoon.
The bad weather led to Manchester Originals' match against Northern Superchargers in the women's Hundred being abandoned without a ball being bowled.
At the scene
Steve Saul, BBC North West Tonight
It took about two hours to douse the flames, with eight fire engines attending.
Flooded roads outside the hospital are evidence of how turbulent the weather has been over the last few hours.
The scariest point was when large flames could be seen shooting through the roof of the hospital but a heavy downpour helped firefighters deal with the blaze.
Smoke could be seen pouring from the roof of the hospital
In Merseyside, firefighters tackled a blaze at a house in Halewood also thought to have been caused by a lightning strike.
Trafford General has a place in NHS history as it was the first hospital to be opened when the service was founded in 1948.
Then Health Secretary Nye Bevan opened Park Hospital on 5 July 1948 with nurses forming a guard of honour outside the hospital, which was renamed Trafford General in 1988.
Eight fire engines attended the incident
It took about two hours to douse the flames
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, external, Twitter, external and Instagram, external? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk