Brockton Hospital to reopen one year after major fire

BROCKTON, Mass. (WLNE) – Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital is set to reopen one year after a major fire shut down the building.

Officials announced Wednesday that they expect to safely reopen the building in late spring.

“Every day since the fire, one of our three paramount goals has been to safely reopen as soon as possible,” explained Robert Haffey, Signature’s President and CEO. “Our construction partners and local, state, and federal officials share this goal and have been tireless in pursuing it.”

Authorities say the 10-alarm fire on Feb. 7 of 2023 started in the electrical equipment room and destroyed much of the hospital’s electrical wiring.

“An electrical fire of that magnitude meant that we had to rewire the entire 250,000-square-foot hospital,” said Brian Backoff, Director of Facilities and Engineering. “Wiring a hospital is a monumental task even for new construction. Retrofitting a hospital with new wiring and electrical and other infrastructure is even more challenging.”

Officials say 162 patients were evacuated in the incident, all without injury.

“When I think back to a year ago,” Haffey said. “I am still in awe of the dedication of our staff and emergency personnel and how they cared for our patients on that unfortunate day.”