Emergency Disaster Services Team Bring Comfort to Apartment Residents

Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services volunteers were on the scene Sunday to assist residents affected by a fire at a London apartment building.

Five trained EDS personnel were on the scene one hour after being called in by the London Fire Department to provide food as well as emotional and spiritual care. The South London Community Centre was turned into a reception centre, where The Salvation Army served soup, granola bars, juice and water to evacuees from a Community Response Unit vehicle.

“We had soup on by 3:30pm and residents were overjoyed because they needed something to provide some comfort during a stressful time,” said Trevor McLellan, Ontario Emergency Disaster Services Specialist with The Salvation Army.

One of the affected residents celebrated his birthday the day of the fire and someone from the building went out and bought a cake for the occasion. The remaining cake was shared with the EDS team as a thank you for being there and taking care of residents.

The EDS team was on the scene from 2:30pm until 6pm, having assisted approximately 50 people throughout the afternoon at South London Community Centre.

“The Salvation Army welcomes the partnership with The City of London and The London Fire Department to help provide residents with food or spiritual care during an emergency,” Trevor said.

To learn more about the role of The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services in Ontario, or to volunteer, please visit https://salvationarmy.ca/eds or email on.eds@salvationarmy.ca.