Smoke, but no fire at ACMH Hospital

EAST FRANKLIN — Fire crews arrived Monday morning to find thick smoke filling offices and a long hallway at ACMH Hospital.

Crews were dispatched to the hospital at 6:55 a.m. after an air-handling unit on the roof malfunctioned, causing smoke to fill a portion of the physical therapy unit and nearby offices, according to East Franklin fire Chief Mark Feeney.

"The smoke was pretty thick when I got on scene, and we could smell the odor of burned rubber," Feeney said. "The maintenance staff quickly got the ventilation system shut down, and we narrowed down the source pretty fast."

Feeney said an 8-inch bearing in one of the 4-foot-tall roof air-handling units burned up, causing the rubber surrounding the bearings to heat up and produce the smoke.

"The smoke was pretty stubborn to get out of the building," he said. "We had to vent each office as we went, as well as the hallway."

There were no patients in the area at the time and no one had to be evacuated from the building, Feeney said.

Crews from East Franklin, West Kittanning, Applewold, Kittanning Hose Company 1 and Worthington were dispatched to the scene.