The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the death of a woman in her 50s on Monday at Mount St. Mary Hospital in Victoria.
Andy Watson, Coroners Service spokesman, said the probe will “determine how, where, when and by what means she came to her death.”
He provided no other details, but the Victoria Fire Department has confirmed that it responded to a report of a fire at the hospital about 8 p.m. Monday.
“En route, we received subsequent information from the B.C. Ambulance Service that we may be responding for potential treatment of burns,” Deputy Chief Dan Atkinson said Wednesday.
By the time firefighters arrived, staff at the hospital had already used fire extinguishers to put out the fire in an exterior courtyard, he said.
“It was quickly determined that our services would not be required and the file was now in the care and control of the B.C. coroner.”
The hospital has extended its condolences to the family and friends of the woman who died.
The B.C. Coroners Service is responsible for investigating and determining the circumstances of all unnatural, sudden and unexpected, and unexplained deaths in the province. It makes recommendations to improve public safety and prevent deaths in similar circumstances.
Mount St. Mary Hospital, at Fairfield Road and Quadra Street on the site of the former St. Joseph’s Hospital, opened in March 2003. The facility was designed to create a home-like atmosphere for about 200 residents requiring complex care.
