BELMONT — One picture survived a fire that destroyed an office and displaced 20 residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Holy Angels’ Belmont campus – a painting of a guardian angel.
Throughout the April 17 fire, guardian angels showed up in the form of rescue and medical workers and staff, providing what the nonprofit sponsored and founded by the Sisters of Mercy calls “mercy moments” – times when help unexpectedly arrives without explanation.
The first mercy moment came when a staffer at Holy Angels, which provides care for 83 residents, ranging from 3 years old to 84, took a different path to her destination and noticed the smell of smoke in the Morrow Center. She immediately sounded the alarm, and staff quickly, calmly and safely began moving medically sensitive residents to another building that had the electricity necessary to run their medical devices and out of harm’s way.
The fire was attributed to a blown transformer on Wilkinson Boulevard, according to preliminary reports. A surge that happened when power was restored damaged some medical equipment and started a small blaze. Once the alarm was sounded, seven fire trucks from Belmont, Mount Holly, New Hope, Cramerton, West Mecklenburg and Gaston County arrived and quickly brought the blaze under control.
Immediately following the fire, medical partners at Atrium and CaroMont provided another mercy moment by allowing seven of the most medically sensitive residents to stay in their hospitals, giving them comfort and critical access to the equipment they needed. Three have returned to Holy Angels and the other four are expected to return the week of April 27.
Back at the Morrow Center, the literal and figurative heart of the campus, the fire was contained to one interior office. Firefighters said the blaze was held back by a door that stopped the flames from spreading.
However, there was smoke damage throughout the facility, which in addition to residents also houses many of Holy Angels’ core programs – from school classrooms to main medical facilities, medical and food storage, and commercial kitchens. Twenty residents were displaced and more than 50 staff are now without a workstation. The power surge also damaged equipment across the campus.
Those residents are staying in other homes around campus as well as a Sisters of Mercy house.
“We are doing all we can to make the most of our space and ensure our residents continue to receive the loving, high-quality care they deserve, delivered by nurses and direct support staff who know them best,” according to a release from Holy Angels.
The organization is in the midst of the first phase of a $21 million Children’s Campus Expansion, which will add three residences for its most medically fragile residents currently housed at the Morrow Center and will ultimately see that building used as a skilled nursing facility for aging residents.
As work to assess and repair the damage begins, the organization is thankful for everyone who has played a role in its response.
“Words cannot capture the gratitude we have for the thoughtfulness and quick action of our staff, for the adaptability and care from our families, and the love and support from our community, who have shown up for us in big and small ways,” the release continued. “It is beautiful to see how this community wraps its arms around our residents – considering them, loving them, and keeping them safe not only today, but every day.”
Holy Angels recounts the “mercy moments” that kept everyone safe and the damage from being worse. Read more.
— Catholic News Herald. Photos provided by Holy Angels
Adopt an angel
At www.holyangelsnc.org/fire: Donate to comfort care, staff support, emergency supplies or medical equipment or sign up to help
