211 Central East Ontario (Community Connection Collingwood) Emergency Response Brief - Owen Sound Fire April 5th, 2010 The Fire In the early morning of, April 5, 2010 a fire destroyed an 11 unit apartment building in Owen Sound. 10 families were left homeless as a result. Although many residents were still sleeping when the fire alarms went off, there were no injuries, and everyone got out of the building safely. The displaced residents were able to find temporary accommodations. Some stayed with relatives, some stayed in local motels, some went to other units held by the owner the building. When the families fled the burning building, they left behind all of their possessions. As a result, the families were not only homeless but did not have a change of clothes, or personal items, such as toiletries, or even food. Many did not have contents insurance. Role of 211i Community Connection/211 Central East Ontario is in its beginning stages of growth and expansion, and a formal role has not yet been established with emergency planners & responders in any of the communities currently served. Experiences such as the Owen Sound fire, and the Durham tornado in 2009 are being used as exercises to document and learn from our communities’ response to situations. In the case of the Owen Sound fire, the Red Cross, the Safe 'n Sound Homelessness Initiative, and the United Way of Grey Bruce, took an active role in coordinating communications between the community and 211. Communication Procedures During the days following the fire, 211 Central East on behalf of the United Way collected the names, and contact information of individuals wanting to donate household goods, clothing, food, and toys to help the displaced residents of the fire. Residents from all over Grey, Bruce and Simcoe county contacted 211 wishing to donate items. 211 tracked all media releases from the area. 211 staff continued to monitor various resources for up to date information, including local radio websites, municipal websites, and county websites. Initially, email communications were sent to Findhelp for overnight service. By the first of the week it became apparent that services were changing quickly, and email was not an efficient way for staff to search and access the most current information and an Owen Sound fire database was created. A link to a CIOC view of the fire database was also provided to Findhelp. Information & Referral The total number of calls to 211 from the community wishing to donate items was 40. 211 staff completed a form live with the caller noting all items being donated, caller’s name, and contact information. The form was then emailed to United Way. 1
211 Central East Ontario (Community Connection Collingwood) Emergency Response Brief - Owen Sound Fire April 5th, 2010 Post Disaster Database The Owen Sound Fire Post Database can be accessed at http://centraleastontario.cioc.ca/record/GRE0023?Number=0 The database contains a limited number of records created to assist I&R staff serve the community and provide easy access for local partners to submit database entries & changes. It does not contain the required services outlined in AIRS standards. Records contain services & programs such as specific items for donations, community information, and hyper links to media releases. The records were maintained on a regular basis with updates added as required by 211 staff.
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211 service providers have a number of disaster preparedness standards that must be met (see http://www.airs.org/files/public/AIRS_Standards_6_0Final.pdf). While 211 has played significant roles in the United States during small & large scale disasters (visit http://211us.org/benefits.htm), the 211 system in Canada is in development, and so utilization & resulting benefits during a disaster have yet to be demonstrated.
For more information contact: Pamela Hillier, Executive Director Community Connection/211 Central East Ontario 705.444.0040 x 234 phillier@communityconnection.net
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