A fire inside the intensive care unit at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch, Perth, forced patients to be evacuated and disrupted hospital services on Thursday, August 20, 2026. Three staff members and one patient were assessed after the incident and were later reported to be stable.
Hospital operations have been recovering, but the disruption is continuing. As of Saturday, August 22, nearly a dozen elective surgeries were set to be postponed following damage caused by the ICU fire.
How the Fiona Stanley Hospital fire unfolded
The emergency began at about 10:05am in a self-contained ICU room. Nine fire crews responded, arriving within minutes.
Firefighters contained the blaze to the room by about 10:24am and extinguished it shortly afterwards. Although the flames did not spread further, smoke and water damage affected nearby clinical areas and hospital operations.
Patients were relocated from the affected ward while emergency procedures were activated. The rapid evacuation was particularly important in intensive care, where some patients rely on continuous monitoring and specialist medical equipment.
Latest update on surgeries and hospital services
Hospital officials initially expected outpatient clinics and elective procedures to return to normal from Friday. However, the latest update on August 22 said nearly a dozen elective surgeries would be postponed as recovery work continued.
The emergency department has remained operational. WA Health emergency department data published after the fire continued to show patients being treated at Fiona Stanley Hospital, confirming that the hospital had not completely closed.
Some temporary ambulance and paediatric emergency arrangements were introduced following the fire while damaged areas were assessed and restored.
What caused the ICU fire?
The reported findings from the Fiona Stanley Hospital fire identified the incident as electrical.
More recent reporting said hospital authorities had identified the fire as starting in a ceiling medical supply unit. Earlier investigators had described an electrical point inside the ICU room as the source.
The updated information provides more detail about where the incident began without changing the broader finding that an electrical fault was involved.
Why the damage continued to affect services
Even when flames are confined to one room, a hospital fire can affect a wider area. Smoke, sprinkler water and damaged equipment may require clinical spaces to be inspected and cleaned before patients can safely return.
Western Australia has faced other fires requiring rapid safety responses. A High Wycombe bushfire emergency near Perth involved evacuations during an outdoor fire threat.
A separate Perth battery fire and toxic smoke emergency demonstrated how smoke hazards can affect areas beyond the immediate location of a blaze.
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What patients and visitors should know
People needing urgent medical treatment can continue to use Fiona Stanley Hospital’s emergency department. Patients with planned surgery or outpatient appointments should follow any direct communication from their clinical team because some procedures remain affected.
The main recovery work is focused on restoring fire-affected clinical areas safely while maintaining care for emergency and intensive-care patients.
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