Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

FIRE AT RIVERVIEW EXTINGUISHED

Img_0811_2The scene outside the Blaisdell Pavilion early this morning.

Emergency personnel and equipment swarmed Riverview Medical Center early this morning in response to a midnight fire in the hospital’s basement.

The fire was was extinguished within an hour without any apparent injuries, though individuals believed to be among the emergency responders were seen taking oxygen in an ambulance outside the hospital.

Patient care was believed to have been little affected, though fire and hospital officials were not immediately available to provide details.

An unconfirmed report indicated that the fire was started in a light fixture in the basement of the Blaisdell Pavilion, at the eastern end of the East Front Street institution.

No flames or smoke was visible from outside the hospital. Most of the fifth-floor lights of the Blaisdell wing were off throughout the response, though there were no immediate indications if that was related to the fire.

Hospital service workers David Johnson and Iris Rodriguez said they were working in the sub-basement linen operation when the alarm went off. The exited by the stairs, and found the basement level filled with a fog-like smoke, they said.

Security personnel were on the scene and directed them to leave the building, said Rodriguez.

“They were holding cloths over their faces,” said Johnson. “That’s how thick it was.”

Img_0819Unidentified individuals get oxygen in outside the Blaisdell Pavilion.

A man who declined to give his name told redbankgreen that he was on the fourth floor, where his wife was in recovery after giving birth by C-section less than four hours earlier, when the alarms went off.

He said the alarms had been ringing for about 15 minutes when hospital personnel assured him that the situation was under control.

“It’s been quite a night,” he said, shortly after 1a, as he prepared to drive away from the hospital. “But my wife’s safe, the baby’s safe.”

The baby, a boy, is the couple’s first child.

Email this story

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.
STRIPER RUN AT MARINE PARK
An angler pulls in a striped bass from the Marine Park bulkhead Tuesday evening. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
COLD AS CANADA? CHECK.
A pair of goose sculptures propped atop an air conditioning unit on River Street in Red Bank.
SUNRISE OVER A GLASSY NAVESINK
Sunrise over the Navesink River, seen from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)  
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
NJ Transit "heritage" locomotive makes an appearance at the Red Bank station.
RBFD SNUFFS OUT SMALL APARTMENT FIRE
A small fire that started in a light fixture at the Colony House apartments in Red Bank was quickly put out by members of the Red Band Volun ...
HEAVENLY RED BANK
Rays burst from behind clouds at the sun begins to set over the Navesink River. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
IN THE FLOW STATE AT RIVESIDE GARDENS
Flow artists in Riverside Gardens Park Friday night. ( photo by Partyline Contributor Karly Swaim)
MAILBOXES HEAD TO HISTORY’S SCRAP HEAP
Sign of the digital age: mailboxes hauled away from Red Bank post office to storage.
HOVERING CHOPPER
What’s going on here? Last Sunday. Hovering around for quite a while. (Photo and text by Partyline contributor Rosaleen Perry)   ...
RBMS HOOPS CHAMPS HONORED
The Red Bank Middle School girls basketball team is honored for their championship season. (click for more)
NAVESINK SUNSET
Sunset sunburst over Riverside Gardens Park (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
RIVERSIDE SUNSET
Sunday’s sunset shot from Riverside Gardens Park. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus) —
MARINE PARK SUNSET
Stunning sunset from Red Bank's Marine Park.
GULLS AND GRAY OVER MOLLY PITCHER INN
On a cold rainy spring day, bulls soared high above the Navesink River and the golden cupola of Red Bank's Molly Pitcher Inn.
Red Bank Commuters Enjoy Stunning Sunrise Over Navesink River
Thursday morning sunrise over the Navesink River, a commuter view from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim) & ...