Last checked: October 14, 2026
There were three fire calls at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in less than three months. The biggest Crozer hospital fire came on the night of December 26, 2024, when a flood in an electrical area set off a fire and crews moved dozens of patients, most of them in intensive care, out of the building. Smaller fires followed on December 30, 2024 and March 14, 2025. None of them caused reported injuries. The hospital itself closed for good in May 2025, and our Crozer-Chester Medical Center guide covers what is on the Upland campus now.
This page puts all three incidents in one place, with what each news outlet reported, where their numbers disagree, and what nobody ever made public. Crozer Health Center Guide is an independent site. We are not affiliated with Crozer Health, Prospect Medical Holdings or the campus’s new owners.
The three Crozer hospital fires at a glance
| Date | Where in the hospital | Reported cause | Effect on patients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Dec 26, 2024 (evening) | Electrical room; smoke on several floors | A “small flood” (reported as a water main break) that led to an electrical fire | 35 to 38 patients evacuated, many from the ICU; ambulances diverted |
| Mon, Dec 30, 2024 (late morning) | Mechanical room | Smoke during maintenance on a transformer | Hospital said no patient areas affected |
| Fri, Mar 14, 2025 (about 11:30 a.m.) | Roof of the emergency department, HVAC duct | Fire after a vendor’s maintenance work | No evacuations; ambulances briefly diverted |
The December 26, 2024 Crozer hospital fire: flood, power loss and an ICU evacuation
The first and most serious fire started on the evening after Christmas. Crozer Health’s chief executive at the time, Tony Esposito, put it in one line: “We experienced a small flood that resulted in a fire.” CBS Philadelphia reported that the fire was in the hospital’s electrical room, that a PECO crew was on scene, and that part of the building lost power. PhillyVoice said officials described a water main break, with water rising while crews fought the fire.
Delaware County Emergency Services described a smoke-filled building across many floors. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the county said ambulances took 38 patients to hospitals in Delaware, Philadelphia, Montgomery and Chester counties, and the fire was under control by about 11:15 p.m. Crews were still moving patients after midnight.
Who was moved, and how many
The outlets don’t agree on the exact count, which is normal for an overnight story but worth knowing if you are trying to piece together what happened to a relative:
- 38 patients, per the county’s emergency services department (Inquirer, CBS Philadelphia).
- 35 patients, per police, evacuated from the third and fourth floors, which held labor and delivery and the ICU (PhillyVoice, 6abc).
- About two dozen transferred out, an early CBS figure that PhillyVoice also quoted.
CBS added that most of those moved were ICU patients, including people with heart problems and women in labor. Patrick O’Connell, Delaware County’s regional EMS director, said about 15 EMS agencies sent 24 units. Dispatchers sent ambulances away from Crozer-Chester and from Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, because the electrical problem also knocked out computer systems shared by both hospitals.
Crozer never said publicly which hospitals took each patient. If you or a family member was moved that night and you need the chart, the records from both the Crozer stay and the receiving hospital matter. The Crozer side now goes through Morgan Records Management; see how to request Crozer medical records before the county’s March 2, 2027 deadline.
What caused the Crozer hospital fire
Every outlet that night said the cause was under investigation. We could not find a published final report from the fire marshal, the Pennsylvania Department of Health or the hospital explaining why the water got into the electrical space. If one appears, we’ll add it here.
December 30, 2024: smoke in the transformer room
Four days later, crews were back. Shortly before noon on Monday, December 30, staff reported smoke in the hospital’s mechanical room during work on a transformer. The Inquirer reported that Upland Fire Marshal Dan Smith confirmed the call and that the all-clear came by 1:15 p.m. The Inquirer described it as an electrical fire in the same part of the hospital as the December 26 fire.
The hospital’s statement was short: “No patient care areas were impacted and there was no disruption in services.” Nobody needed treatment and nobody had to leave.
March 14, 2025: fire on the emergency department roof
The third call came on a Friday morning in March. Fire crews got the call around 11:30 a.m. after reports of smoke in the emergency room. Firefighters found the fire on the ER roof, around an HVAC duct, and had it under control shortly after noon. A Crozer Health spokesperson said a vendor had been doing maintenance on the roof when it started.
Nobody had to leave and nobody got hurt, but the Inquirer noted that the hospital briefly sent incoming ambulances to other hospitals. More than half a dozen fire trucks and other emergency vehicles lined Upland Avenue by the ambulance bay.
What else was happening at Crozer at the time
The fires didn’t close Crozer-Chester. Money did. But they landed in the middle of the hospital’s last, hardest months, and that context explains why they drew so much attention.
In the fall of 2024, Pennsylvania’s attorney general asked a Delaware County court to put the health system under state control, citing threats by owner Prospect Medical Holdings to cut services such as maternity care and the county’s only trauma unit. Earlier in December 2024, a technical problem with imaging had closed the emergency rooms at Crozer-Chester and Taylor for about three hours. Prospect filed for bankruptcy in January 2025. By the time of the March roof fire, the hospital was running on short-term funding: state and county money in February, then a bridge from the Foundation for Delaware County that ran to about March 28.
Taylor Hospital closed on April 26, 2025. Crozer-Chester’s emergency department closed on April 30, and the hospital closed entirely on May 2, 2025. Our Crozer closure timeline has the full sequence.
Is the Crozer-Chester campus still there?
Yes. The buildings stand, but there is no hospital or emergency room operating on the Upland campus. In January 2026, Chariot Equities, working with Allaire Health Services, bought the 64-acre campus. CBS Philadelphia reported that the new owners plan to bring back hospital and emergency services in phases, with a first phase of care within two years. At an April 2026 public meeting, the owners said a primary care practice could open on the campus within about nine months. None of that is open yet as of this check.
In an emergency, call 911. For the nearest open emergency rooms, including Riddle, Mercy Fitzgerald and the newer ChristianaCare hospital in Aston, see our list of hospitals and ERs open in Delaware County.
Frequently asked questions
When was the fire at Crozer hospital?
The major Crozer hospital fire was on Thursday evening, December 26, 2024. Smaller fires followed on December 30, 2024 (transformer room) and March 14, 2025 (emergency department roof).
Was anyone hurt in the Crozer-Chester fires?
The hospital and news reports at the time listed no injuries in any of the three incidents.
Where were the evacuated patients taken?
Delaware County said 38 patients went to hospitals in Delaware, Philadelphia, Montgomery and Chester counties. Crozer did not publish a list of which hospitals took which patients.
Did the Crozer hospital fire cause the closure?
No source ties the closure to the fires. Crozer-Chester closed in May 2025 after Prospect Medical Holdings’ bankruptcy and the failure of efforts to find a new operator or keep public funding going.
Is Crozer-Chester Medical Center open now?
No. Chariot Equities and Allaire Health Services bought the campus in January 2026, and the new owners have announced plans for primary care first and hospital services later, but nothing is open there yet. Call 911 in an emergency.
An independent guide. Crozer Health Center Guide is not affiliated with Crozer Health, Prospect Medical, Main Line Health, Trinity Health or any hospital, and nothing here is medical advice. In an emergency, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Open ERs in Delaware County · Crozer medical records · All guides