The emergency room at Logan (W.Va.) Regional Medical Center was flooded with two to three inches of water March 21 after an "irate" patient pulled a fire alarm, which triggered the hospital's sprinkler system, according to a WSAZ report.
The 30-year-old man, a patient in an ER exam room March 21, was captured on camera standing on hospital equipment, reaching up and pulling the fire sprinkler system from the ceiling, hospital staff told police. Police later arrested the man for tampering with a fire protection device, causing false alarm for fire, destruction of property, disorderly conduct and falsely reporting an emergency incident.
The ER was put on diversion for two hours the night of March 21. Noncritical patients were moved to other hospitals during the diversion.
The ER houses 22 rooms, but only eight of those rooms were impacted by the water. Hospital spokesman Justin Turner told WSAZ while the ER is not fully functioning, most of the damage is contained to a small area of rooms.
The flooding caused approximately $50,000 in damage to the emergency department, according to WOWK. The hospital resumed its regular schedule the morning of March 22.