Patient room catches fire at Greystone psychiatric hospital

MORRIS PLAINS A fire in a patient's bedroom at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital was quickly extinguished by firefighters Wednesday evening.

Firefighters responded to the 450-bed hospital on Koch Avenue at 6:18 p.m. after receiving a report of a smoke condition in one of the second-floor bedroom's in the F-wing of the hospital, Mount Tabor Assistant Fire Chief Bryan Crawford said.

Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters were notified that it was a working room-and-contents fire involving a wardrobe and dresser, Tabor said. In a room-and-contents fire, the blaze hasn't spread to the actual structure of the building, he said.

All patients in the F-wing were relocated to other sections of the hospital during the incident, Crawford said. According to the Department of Human Services' website, the hospital currently provides transitional housing for 60 individuals.

Crawford said the sprinkler system was able to limit the spread of the fire to the room itself, but extinguishing the blaze required firefighters to use a high-rise hose pack connected to a second-floor water pipe. Within about 10 minutes of arriving on the scene, firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, he said.

One of the biggest challenges, Crawford said, was ventilating the building using the HVAC system because none of the windows opened.

No injuries were reported during the fire, he said.

The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation by the Department of Human Services police, Crawford said.

Besides Mount Tabor Volunteer Fire Department, the Greystone Fire Department, Morris Township Fairchild Fire Department and Cedar Knolls Fire Department, Rapid Intervention Crew responded to the scene. Two basic life support units from the Parsippany Volunteer Ambulance squad also responded to the scene, he said.

The hospital currently in operation bears the same name and operates on the same campus as the now-shuttered Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital that's slated for demolition later this month.

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Patient room catches fire at Greystone psychiatric hospital