Small electrical fire damages Boone Hospital
An electrical fire damaged the roof of Boone Hospital Center Tuesday night, causing $5,000 in damage.
No one was injured in the fire, which was reported around 11:30 p.m. According to a press release on the Columbia Fire Department’s website, fire crews that went to investigate a reported structure fire found the hospital’s sign was on fire and dripping hot plastic onto the roof. The plastic melted through the roof and into its insulation.
According to the release, Assistant Fire Marshal Lt. Debbie Sorrell said the fire was electrical and lightning could not be ruled out as the cause, due to area thunderstorms.
“The investigator knows it was electrical, but there’s no way to say definitively,” CFD Battalion Chief James Weaver said.
In a statement, Boone Hospital Center said the fire originated behind the lettering on the sign that faces east atop the hospital.
With the National Weather Service forecasting thunderstorms through Friday, hospital maintenance crews were working to patch over an area about five feet by eight feet.
"We have a person working on it this morning," hospital spokesman Jacob Luecke said. "It's going to be fixed very quickly."