The Ansonia Fire Department posted this photo from the scene outside Griffin Hospital to Facebook on Saturday morning.
DERBY — An equipment failure triggered a sprinkler system at Griffin Hospital on Saturday, resulting in a large response from area emergency services.
The incident did not affect patient care or the normal operations of the hospital, according to a post from Griffin on social media. As a precautionary measure area EMS crews were advised to go to other area hospitals while the incident unfolded.
At 10:24 a.m., a sprinkler system was set off because the regulator that controls thermostats failed. The activated sprinkler was in the hospital’s “center building,” home to administrative offices.
“The failure prevented thermostats from turning off the heat in a number of offices when heat in those offices reached the set temperature. Rising heat caused a single sprinkler head activation and a sprinkler system flow detector triggered a fire alarm,” according to a prepared statement.
Ansonia and Derby fire departments were both automatically notified and responded to the scene.
Hospital officials reported water damage from the sprinkler “in areas adjacent to and below the office where the activation occurred.”
A crew was called to the scene to repair the HVAC system and a crew was called to deal with any water damage.
“Griffin Health thanks the Derby, Ansonia and Shelton fire departments for their quick response and assistance,” according to the statement.
Units were on scene for more than two hours, according to a Facebook post from the Ansonia Fire Department.
The initial call also reported an odor of smoke in the building.
