1 dead, 3 injured in North Carolina hospital fire

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say one patient has been killed and three employees injured in a fire at a long-term care unit at a North Carolina hospital.

Firefighters received a report of an explosion at the care facility in Durham Regional Hospital about 2:15 a.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, they found no evidence of an explosion and the hospital sprinkler system had put out the fire.

Hospital marketing director Kellie Peacock says the fire occurred on the building’s sixth floor, which is leased by Select Specialty Hospital. Select Specialty is a long-term acute care facility.

Earlier, a Durham Regional Hospital official said three patients were injured. But Peacock later said in the news release that two Select Specialty employees and one employee of the Duke University Health System were injured.