John Sealy Hospital fire is ruled arson
GALVESTON (KTRK) -- The State Fire Marshal's office has ruled the John Sealy Hospital in Galveston fire as arson.
Firefighters evacuated a portion of the University of Texas Medical Branch due to a fire Jan. 4.
ORIGINAL STORY: Firefighters evacuate John Sealy Hospital in Galveston due to a fire
More than one hundred patients and about two hundred employees were evacuated. UTMB says there were no patients on the floor where the fire started but there were patients on floors above the fire.
Dr. David Callender of UTMB said, "The location of the fire allowed the smoke to spread out in the major access areas so we had to manage the movement of the patients to keep them away from the smoke."
He added the fire started in a construction zone where parts of the hospital are under renovation.
No injuries were reported and six pediatric patients had to be transferred to the ER at John Sealy.
