The Ann Arbor Fire Department responded to a fire in the Emergency Room of the University of Michigan Hospital late Saturday that injured two people.
The cause of the blaze: An intoxicated patient smoking an imaginary cigarette in a bed in one room of the recently expanded ER.
U-M Hospital's ER waiting room.
"He was trying to light a non-existent cigarette. He thought he had one, he didn't have one, that caused the bedding to catch on fire," U-M Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown said.
No evacuations were necessary.
According to a news release, fire crews were dispatched to the U-M Medical Center at about 10:20 p.m. Saturday for a call of a fire in a room.
They arrived to find the "small fire" had been extinguished by staff.
However, the patient suffered burns — as did a nurse, who had responded to the fire and was hurt while putting it out.
The fire was contained to the bed in the room, according to the news release.
Information on the extent of the injuries and the damage was not available early Sunday.
U-M police are investigating. The medical center, like the rest of U-M's campus, is a designated smoke-free zone. The U-M Health System did not comment for this story.