A small fire ignited this morning in a construction zone at Emanuel Medical Center from a severed oxygen line.

No patients were injured from the fire, which was quickly contained and extinguished by Turlock Fire Department personnel.

Four women in Labor and Delivery were relocated to other rooms and five babies from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were transferred by ambulance to a Modesto hospital as a precaution, said hospital spokesperson Pennie Rorex.

Both units were located near the construction site, but were not compromised, Rorex said.

The incident was reported around 8:45 a.m. today.

Construction crews building the hospital’s two new operating rooms breached an oxygen line while saw-cutting a stucco wall.  

The hospital returned to normal operations within an hour of the incident, according to Rorex.

“We are extremely proud of our joint efforts with Turlock’s emergency responders. Together, we were able to minimize patient care disruption and restore almost all hospital services within an hour,” Rorex said.