Eighteen months after a 10-alarm blaze shut down the only full-service hospital in Brockton, Mass., the facility reopened bigger, better and safer than ever thanks to the unparalleled skills of IBEW electricians.

The February 2023 fire, which ignited in the electrical room, caused catastrophic damage that wasn't obvious from outside the 19th-century brick facade. But inside, the hospital's arteries were in ruins.

Today, its electrical system is state of the art, meticulously rebuilt, rewired and reconfigured by crews 60-strong from Brockton Local 223, with assistance from Boston Local 103.

"This achievement is a testament to the invaluable efforts of the dedicated electrical workers, whose hard work and commitment played a crucial role in the restoration," Brockton Mayor Bob Sullivan said. "Thanks to their phenomenal efforts, this hospital is set to serve our community for many years to come."

Doug Nelson, the recently retired business manager of Local 223, said the five-story hospital — for all its many challenges — wasn't the most complex project most members have worked on. But it may be the most meaningful.

"I was born there, and it was always part of my childhood and growing up here in Brockton," Nelson said. "I think a lot of us have those kinds of personal ties. We understand how important the hospital is to our community and how critical it was to get it up and running again."

The hospital's electrical system was so outdated that the main switch room where the pre-dawn fire erupted was also the source of emergency power for backup generators. More than 160 patients had to be evacuated in the dark.

The urgency of the project was multiplied by turmoil at several other area hospitals, whose out-of-state owner had declared bankruptcy. In the wake of the fire, the nearest emergency care for Brockton's 100,000-plus residents was limited to two clinics.

IBEW members tackled an exhaustive list that included installing three generators, creating a system of underground pipes for a new external electrical room, replacing pipes feeding the existing hospital, and using wheels and pulleys to tug 14,000 feet of rigid mineral insulated, or MI, cables through complex infrastructure. They also built more than 20 electrical closets that required nearly five miles of feeder pipe and wire.

"We basically redid the whole electrical backbone of the hospital without them demoing the hospital," said Phil Talbot, Local 103 member and general foreman for J&M Brown, which won the electrical contract.

Since the hospital celebrated its grand reopening in August, Talbot and about 10 IBEW members have remained on site wrapping up the project.

He said workers had to navigate ceilings jammed with ductwork and old pipes, the result of decades of repairs layered on top of repairs — typical in hospitals, which don't ordinarily close down for restoration work.

"Our crews did a great job of running new pipes so that we could pull wire through it and probably, something crazy, like 60 MI feeds," Talbot said.

First, though, old pipes covered with soot had to be removed.

"You can imagine how black and filthy the pipes were," Local 223 journeyman Brian Callahan said. "We're trying to pull them out, and the conductors were melted to the side of the conduit, which made it a little more challenging.

"That was my first taste of it," he said with a laugh about his early assignment. "I've worked in coal plants, and that's exactly what it was like. You went home absolutely filthy every day. But after a week or two, that was done and it was on to the clean stuff."

For Callahan, that included "the tremendous amount of electrical closets and new panels — every single one of them re-fed with new pipe and new wire."

He had high praise for Talbot as general foreman, saying he "made the job go as smooth as can be" and deftly managed the workload and manpower to avoid layoffs.

Heather Gonsalves, who joined the hospital team near the end of her first year as a Local 223 apprentice, marveled at the education she got.

"It was awesome and scary at the same time," said Gonsalves, now a third-year apprentice. "I'd only done two solar field jobs prior to this. I did not have construction experience, so I was lucky enough to have some really amazing journeymen that I worked with.

"I walked onto that jobsite and was very honest. I said: 'I'm very green. I don't know a lot, and I want to know a lot,'" she recalled. "It was such a good job to learn on. I'm definitely a better electrician because of it."

Among her many assignments, Gonsalves was part of a crew that installed 3,000 solar panels atop carports in the hospital parking lot.

Mike Monahan, international vice president in the Second District, joined community leaders and hospital staff in applauding IBEW members and signatory contractor J&M Brown.

"I cannot praise the company enough or the brothers and sisters of Local 223 enough for the outstanding job they've done," he said.

Owner David Noon responded that J&M Brown is "very proud indeed of what we have accomplished at the hospital [and] very grateful for incredible cooperation, talent and dedication of the members of Local 223, which made it possible."