Collaboration & Preparedness on Display in Response to Local Fire

Photo by Steve Henschel/City of Sarnia

BASES would like to recognize the efforts of everyone involved with the response efforts to the fire at Fairwinds Lodge Retirement Residence on January 15, 2023. Quick action was taken to safely evacuate and account for all residents.

A temporary shelter was set up by Lambton College for displaced residents who were unable to be immediately relocated with loved ones and Sarnia Transit buses were on hand to help provide transportation to the college, where 61 residents were temporarily housed and fed overnight.

In 2020, BASES made a financial contribution on behalf of its members towards a 150-bed temporary field hospital at Lambton College to assist with pandemic preparedness. Nearly three years later, it is great to see how this equipment was repurposed as a temporary shelter for the Fairwinds Lodge residents, and how quickly volunteers came together to get the area ready for those in need.

The commendable response efforts from all involved, including responding fire departments from Sarnia, Port Huron, St. Clair Township and Port Huron, police, EMS, staff at Fairwinds Lodge and Trillium Villa, Sarnia Transit, Lambton College, municipal emergency planners, volunteers, and countless others, really exemplifies the focus placed on emergency planning locally, and demonstrates how proper planning and execution can save lives.

To learn more about emergency planning, please visit the City of Sarnia’s website – https://www.sarnia.ca/living-here/emergency-services/emergency-management/ or the BASES website at https://lambtonbases.ca/emergency-preparedness/