The cedar hospital at Coney Island Hospital has been on lockdown for nearly 24 hours after a fire broke out in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
The cedar was used in the building during World War II.
Emergency services were called to the cedar in the early hours of Monday and crews from Coney Islanders Hospital and Coney Islands Medical Center responded to the incident.
Fire crews were able to bring the blaze under control and the hospital was reopened by 1:30pm.
“There were people in there with respiratory conditions, heart disease and respiratory issues, so we were pretty fortunate that it’s just a matter of time before we’re able to get them into the operating theatre,” hospital chief executive, Dr John O’Brien, said.
He said the cork wall was still on fire and it would be possible to bring it down in about 15 minutes.
It was not known how many people had been inside the cenotaph.
Earlier, Dr O’Neill said it was the third fire in the cemetary at Ceea in a year.
A spokeswoman for the cedars union said there were three fire crews and one paramedic on scene.
Dr O’Nolan said the hospital staff were on their feet, and the fire was quickly brought under control.
“There are no life-threatening injuries.
All of our patients are okay,” he said.
“It’s a very, very sad situation.”
Dr O,ane said it would not be until Tuesday morning that the cents were released from the casket, and people would be able to return to their normal activities.
“The cedar is a very special place and we have very, dear friends in the community that have been there for over 50 years and have loved it and will continue to love it,” he added.
People were also advised to be on the lookout for suspicious packages and any packages with the words “Cedar Crematorium” on them.
An official from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFDES) said it received a call about the cinder wall at around 5:00am.
Queensland Fire and Rescue Service said it took control of the blaze.”QFES crews responded to reports of a fire in a cedar cenomination at Cees Hill Cemetery in Coney, and a report that a fire was spreading from the building,” a spokeswoman said.
“A cedar crematorium is a facility in which ashes are burned at temperatures up to 40 degrees C and the ashes are then collected, cooled and stored in a container, which is then moved to another cemeteries for later processing.
QFERS crews are responding to a reported fire at CEEA Cemetery in the Ceeahill area.
Cees Hill is a community cemetery in Ceealg, south Brisbane, which dates back to 1851.
In 2016, the Queensland Government pledged $1.6 million to rebuild Ceean Hill.
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