Lightning Strike Forces Evacuation of Camco Health Services Center Patients

Roughly 450 patients at Camden County Health Services Center-Ann A. Mullen Building, located in Blackwood, were evacuated Thursday night after a lightning strike knocked out the facility's power.

About 150 of the 450 patients displaced by the power outage were moved a short distance across Woodbury Turnersville Road to the Camden County Emergency Training Center. They are patients in the center's inpatient behavioral health-care services wing.

The remaining 300 patients, who reside in the center's long-term care wing, were to be transported to Ann A. Mullen Middle School, in the township's Erial section, tonight.

"Let me reassure all the families—everyone is just fine," Camden County Health Services Center CEO Kevin Halpern said during an impromptu press conference outside the Ann A. Mullen Building.

At about 9:20 p.m., officials indicated they expected power could be restored to the building with the use of portable generators within four to six hours.

Halpern predicted patients could be back in the facility, located at 425 Woodbury Turnersville Rd., by mid-morning Friday.

The lightning strike occurred at about 6:35 p.m. Firefighters declared the situation under control by around 7:15 p.m.

The decision to evacuate the patients came less than an hour later.

Emergency medical personnel from across Camden County joined with police and firefighters from Gloucester and Washington townships at the Lakeland complex to assure the facility's patients were safe.

"The response of the staff, the Office of Emergency Management and the local fire companies was unbelievable," Halpern said.

Halpern told a small group of reporters that he had been informed that it appeared the lightning struck the building, sending a "double hit" type of surge that debilitated the facility's electric distribution capabilities.

The fire never spread to the building from the transformer blaze in the electrial room, but there was heavy smoke.

Two workers leaving the facility indicated they were told the power problem would be taken care of soon and to expect to finish their shift back in Ann A. Mullen Building.

Gloucester Township Public Schools bus drivers responded to the scene to help transport patients.