Fire breaks out at Science Ctr.

A fire broke out at about 5:15 p.m. Monday night in the basement of the 3440 Science Center building, located at 3440 Market St., according to Executive Chief Daniel Williams of the Philadelphia Fire Department.

Williams said the fire was under control by about 6:30 p.m.

The fire broke out when electrical wiring in a utility closet in the building’s basement caught fire, Williams said, adding that the wiring was part of a unit that supplied power to HUP’s servers on the building’s sixth floor. When the power unit caught fire, the servers lost power and crashed.

Health System spokeswoman Susan Phillips said the restoration of electricity was “fairly quick” and happened in “a couple of hours.” No damage occurred to the servers themselves, as the fire was contained to the basement and the servers are on a higher floor.

Phillips added that UPHS uses several systems to back up its servers. The server crash “did not cause any disruption,” she said.

She said the three hospitals affected by the crash — HUP, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and Pennsylvania Hospital, located at 8th and Spruce Streets — told ambulances to take critical patients elsewhere for short periods of time on Monday night while the impact of the crash was assessed.

“Rather than take a chance, we told ambulances ‘unless you really, really need us, move to the next hospital,’” Phillips said.

Approximately 40 people self-evacuated from the building when the fire broke out, Williams said.

Two firefighters who responded to the incident were transported to Jefferson Hospital, he said, declining to comment on the reason they were taken to the hospital.

One of the two was admitted to the hospital but has since been released, according to Williams.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.