California hospital loses power, patients and staff evacuate

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - More than 200 patients had to be evacuated from white memorial hospital in Los Angeles Tuesday morning due to a power failure.

911 calls started coming in to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) late Monday night when the power and the emergency power in part of the facility both went down.

"Upon arrival, firefighters determined that we had a large scale emergency ahead of us now that prompted a large response from the LAFD. Their tower that specializes in NICU, OBGYN and specialty and rehab completely lost power," said Captain Cody Weireter of the LAFD.

In total, 241 patients, some on crucial medical devices that require electricity to operate, had to be moved from the building. 30 of the more critical patients were transferred to other hospitals in the area, while 211 were moved to other buildings on campus that still had power.

Firefighters had to carry many of those patients out of the dark, six-floor building due to the elevators not being operational at the time.

The cause of the power outage is still under investigation.