Fire breaks out at building for Kings County Department of Public Health

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A fire broke out at a building belonging to the Kings County Department of Public Health.

It was first reported shortly before 3 am Monday on Campus Drive and Lacey Boulevard.

The Hanford Fire Department got an alert about a sprinkler system that had turned on.

At the same time, police got an alarm for a burglary.

"There's a small shed in the back that was fully involved in fire," explained Hanford Fire Battalion Chief Moses Neal.

Neal says the shed was used for a water filtration system.

The flames spread from there, damaging the nearby laboratory.

"This large building behind us is in an L shape. The shed was right in the middle of the L, probably 10 or 15 feet from the building itself," said Neal.

Several fire crews worked together to put out the flames, including Lemoore and Laton volunteer fire departments, and no injuries were reported.

But there is extensive water damage to the building, which prompted the Health Department to cancel in-person services on Monday.

"It's an unpleasant surprise for a Monday morning being that we do serve a lot of people that really have no other option as far as the care they receive,"

The department's spokesman, Everardo Legaspi, says it's unknown when in-person services will resume.

But they do have options to continue serving their patients.

"We do work with our community partners, so thankfully, our laboratory operations will continue to working with Tulare County Public Health Laboratory. We're able to provide some clinical services through our remote clinics and through our mobile clinic," said Legaspi.

"We'll be able to do a lot of that virtually for the remainder of this week."

Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the fire. They have not ruled out the possibility of arson.

As for the health department, officials said if you're a patient, you can call 559-584-1401.

You can also go to the county website for more information.