Fire safety fears at Tauranga hospital

Tauranga Hospital is operating without full fire protection and while officials insist no-one is in danger, the main nursing union is shocked.
A lightning strike knocked out the fire alarm system control panel during the violent storm on Good Friday and since then the hospital has relied on its automated sprinkler system and smoke alarms for its fire cover.
Tauranga Fire Service assistant commander Keith Fraser, responsible for fire safety throughout the Bay and Waikato, said he was not unduly concerned by the breakdown because the hospital was well equipped in other areas.
"It has sprinklers, smoke alarms and automated fire doors, and its staff are trained to a very high standard. The whole building has good built-in fire protection," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"If I thought there was any danger, I would close it down."
But Paul McGee, regional spokesman for the New Zealand Nursing Organisation, said he was now making it a priority to talk to hospital management to seek assurances for nurses.
"We need to know so our members and the rest of the community can be assured that Tauranga Hospital has everything under control," he said. "This news will increase the fears and worries for patients, as well as nursing staff."
Colin Gauld, engineering manager at Tauranga hospital, said the fire alarm system and the sprinkler system complemented each other.
"I don't think there's any increased danger. We have an approved sprinkler system and smoke alarms in the main block."
Mr Gauld said the lightning strike caused quite a lot of damage to a few systems, including the fire alarm system.
"We have rectified everything except the fire alarm system. We are working on that at the moment and it should be back in order by the end of this week."
He stressed the outage had not affected procedures for the staff at the hospital, all of whom were highly trained.
The hospital operates a 777 internal alarm system in the case of fire and has a direct line to the fire service.
He said the hospital building didn't have a sprinkler system a few years ago, so the lightning strike back then might well have had more serious consequences.
Paul Cooper, of Associated Fire Alarms in Christchurch, which monitors all fire calls for the Fire Service in New Zealand, said he was aware that Tauranga hospital was having a problem with one system.
"As far as I'm concerned, that's fine," he said. "It's just one in particular they can't get working at the moment -they have other systems. It's a software problem. The users are not in danger."