Crews received the call from the Fayetteville Ambulatory Surgery Center at 11:42 a.m. The building is located at 1781 Metromedical Drive, across from Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
"All we saw was smoke coming out the building, people coming out of the building, grabbing as much as they could, chairs, people," witness Kimberly Almond said.
One hundred eleven people were evacuated from the building, including 30 patients.
"We set up a recovery room and pre-op area right here in the parking lot," nurse Jill Clark said.
Three of those patients were undergoing surgery and were transported to Cape Fear Valley.
"We put the stable patients on the sidewalks and made arrangements for their transportation home. For the unstable patients, we immediately called the ambulances and transported them to the hospital," nurse Jill Clark said.
Firefighters found extensive smoke in the roof of the building.A spokesperson said an electrical problem was to blame.
Although no one was hurt, the ambulatory center will be closed for several days. Even Almond's next door office, Fayetteville Plastic Surgery Specialists, will have to cancel some appointments.
Thirty-one firefighters and 15 EMS workers responded to the call.
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