Power to Tauranga's Grace Hospital had to be switched off for a number of hours this morning after a small fire broke out on the main cables leading to the hospital.
Tauranga fire senior station officer Mark Keller said the fire had produced smoke in the basement area and once put out, power had to be switched off to stop it reigniting.
Usually power would be turned off straight away but due to the possibility of patient reliance on power there was a delay until they could ensure there was no danger to patients.
The back-up generator also had to be switched off for the electrician to fix the short, he said.
"I imagine it caused a lot of stress for the hospital."
