Hundreds of gallons of oil leaks into Beaufort Memorial boiler room

Hundreds of gallons of oil was found leaked inside Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s boiler room Monday, but conditions were not particularly dangerous, a fire department official said.

About 290 gallons of heating fuel oil leaked into the mechanical room at the hospital’s lowest level, Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Chief Reece Bertholf said. The room contains boilers used to heat the building and create hot water, but the oil wasn’t found to be flammable when firefighters arrived at about 8 a.m., Bertholf said.

The cause of the spill was unknown Monday afternoon, hospital spokeswoman Courtney McDermott said.

The oil has to be heated before combustion and is relatively safe at room temperature, a fire department release said. Areas adjacent to the mechanical room were evacuated.

Due to the smell in the surgery area, hospital staff suspended elective surgeries. Emergency surgery was still available.

A hazmat crew was expected to finish cleaning up the spill by Monday evening, McDermott said at 3:30 p.m.. The leak was contained to the mechanical room, Bertholf said.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Hundreds of gallons of oil leaks into Beaufort Memorial boiler room."