On December 31, 1994, a New Year’s Eve fire at the Southside Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Petersburg, Virginia, killed four patients and injured three firefighters and several nurses.’ The fire was the worst in terms of number of lives lost in a single incident in Petersburg in recent memory. The fire originated in a patient room on the fourth floor of the hospital shortly after 9 p.m. Local investigators believe that smoking materials were involved in the ignition and that the fire resulted from the patient’s actions. They could not determine if the actions which caused the fire were accidental or intentional. The fire grew rapidly due partly to the fuel load in the fire room. A nurse discovered the fire but was unable to extinguish it.