Twelve patients of the Howrah District Hospital’s burns ward had a narrow escape when a fire broke out in the adjoining server room on Monday evening.

Five fire tenders took more than an hour and a half to douse the flames, which threatened to engulf the ward on the second floor of the four-storeyed building.

Hospital officials said security guards noticed flames in the server room around 5.10pm and informed the ward master. The fire services department was immediately informed.

The burns ward was blanketed in thick black smoke before the fire brigade reached the hospital. Some employees and security guards entered the ward by breaking the glass windows. The 12 patients, including eight women and a child, were shifted to the female surgical ward.

“When I saw smoke coming out of the server room, I ran up to the second floor. I entered the burns ward and started breaking the glass window panes with my bare hand to let the smoke out,” said security guard Shyamal Kar.

“My daughter Rimpa, 5, was admitted to the burns ward of the hospital a fortnight ago after she fell on heated oil. I had stepped out of the ward for a while. When I returned, it was filled with smoke. I tried to enter the ward but could not,” said Ramesh Hazra, a resident of Liluah.

Firemen reached the hospital in 10 minutes and joined the rescue.

“We are lucky that the fire did not spread beyond the server room,” said Nayan Chandra, the superintendent of the hospital. He admitted that the hospital lacked fire fighting arrangements.

“We shall take the help of forensic experts to find the cause of the fire. The server room staff will be questioned,” said Howrah police superintendent Niraj Kumar Singh.