Helicopter ambulance captain reported an empty baby incubator caught fire while in flight.

Attributes
ACN	1705174
Time
Date	201911
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

While en-route to pick-up a baby with the nicu team and the spare isolette/incubator; a pump on the isolette caught on fire in cruise flight. The flight medic was able to extinguish the fire with a bottle of water before the flight nurse was able to pass the flight medic the fire extinguisher. Hospital communications were informed of the incident immediately. I performed a landing in a vacant lot. Fire and police responded. The medic company responded and transported the nicu crew; with a different isolette; to the referring hospital and completed the transfer by ground. A base mechanic also responded to the scene and conducted a thorough check of the aircraft. The defective isolette was removed from the aircraft and transported back for further inspection.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Helicopter ambulance Captain reported an empty baby incubator caught fire while in flight.

Narrative: While en-route to pick-up a baby with the NICU team and the spare isolette/incubator; a pump on the isolette caught on fire in cruise flight. The Flight Medic was able to extinguish the fire with a bottle of water before the Flight Nurse was able to pass the Flight Medic the fire extinguisher. Hospital Communications were informed of the incident immediately. I performed a landing in a vacant lot. Fire and Police responded. The Medic Company responded and transported the NICU crew; with a different isolette; to the referring hospital and completed the transfer by ground. A base Mechanic also responded to the scene and conducted a thorough check of the aircraft. The defective isolette was removed from the aircraft and transported back for further inspection.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.