It’s been said that it takes a crisis to see the very best in ourselves and our communities. For those of us at Westbrook Housing, that crisis occurred in the early morning hours of Friday, Dec. 14, when fire struck our 60-unit residential community, Riverview Terrace, on Knight Street.
Thankfully, no one was killed or injured as residents, all senior citizens and/or handicapped, were evacuated into the cold, snowy darkness.
Westbrook Housing would like to thank all of the responders and support teams that turned out in the wee hours of the morning and helped prevent this situation from turning into a deadly tragedy.
From the city of Westbrook, there were the firefighters (headed up by Chief Gary Littlefield), EMS personnel (led by Ron Jones), and the police (headed by Chief William Baker). Mayor Bruce Chuluda offered support, as did Adam Farrington, animal control officer, and School Superintendent Stan Sawyer and Penny Esposito, who arranged for bus transportation to and from the temporary shelter set up at Larrabee Village.
We also had the assistance of teams from the Red Cross, headed on site by Carl Comstock, the Salvation Army (Phil Van Brunt) and the Trauma Intervention Program (TIPS), led by W. Avery Jenkins.
Our own dedicated Westbrook Housing staff members saw that all evacuated residents (and their pets) were made safe and comfortable, as well as fed, during their ordeal.
Since the events of that morning, many in the Westbrook community have offered their help – people like George McCrillis from Mac Gray (our laundry provider), who provided residents with free service for several days to clean smoke-covered clothing.
We’d also like to thank those who have contributed to the special fund (Westbrook Services Corp., c/o Westbrook Housing, 30 Liza Harmon Drive, Westbrook 04092) that is helping those who have been temporarily displaced and those families that lost all their possessions in the fire.
Thank you to all who have rallied to support their fellow Westbrook residents. You are truly the best.
John Gallagher
Executive Director
Westbrook Housing
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