One person is in custody after a fire tore through a mental health unit at the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie tonight.
Police are investigating the blaze and say the person is helping them with their inquiries.
Police and Tasmania Fire Service crews from Burnie and Devonport were called to the Spencer Clinic at the hospital around 6:30pm.
The fire has been contained to the Spencer Clinic area.
Firefighters are still at the scene keeping an eye on conditions.
No serious injuries have been reported.
Some patients have been treated for smoke inhalation.
EARLIER: Firefighters are battling a blaze in a mental health unit at the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie tonight.
Crews arrived to find the ward “fully engulfed in fire” around 6:30pm on Saturday, the Tasmania Fire Service said.
“Several patients are being checked by ambulance for smoke inhalation,” a spokesperson said.
The unit is the hospital’s acute mental health inpatient ward, which has 19 beds including a high-dependency section.
It is the main inpatient mental health service for the north-west.
The fire service has not said whether other parts of the hospital have been evacuated.
The Department of Health has been contacted for more information.
