Hospital patients in Culver City were evacuated as smoke filled multiple floors at the facility Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
Firefighters were removing smoke from multiple floors of Southern California Hospital in Culver City after arriving shortly before 2 p.m. The Culver City and Los Angeles City fire departments were at the hospital, fire officials said.
Firefighters checked the area for hazardous conditions, a Culver City fire official said in a statement, while patients evacuated or sheltered in place.
Some 175 patients and 225 staff members evacuated to the parking lot, officials said.
Culver City Fire Capt. Rob Kohlhepp said the smoke was the result of a fire on the roof related to construction.
Patients, some on gurneys, packed the hospital's parking lot as seen in aerial footage by NewsChopper4. No one was hurt.
Hospitals conduct disaster drills with clear protocols, so staff should be better at evacuations than at other large buildings, according to NBC4's Dr. Bruce Hensel. But it can still take hours to completely evacuate, because many patients are hooked up to machines in the wall whose connections need to be switched to portable kits.
