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EDS volunteers serve 300 firefighters and first responders
By Laine Hendricks –
The Salvation Army provided support to first responders fighting a five-alarm commercial building fire which broke out Sept. 4 in San Francisco’s Mission District, injuring four people.
A Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) team was on the scene with a canteen deployed mid-afternoon to the intersection of Mission and 23rd Streets, where it served water, snacks and meals to nearly 300 firefighters and first responders battling the flames.
Approximately 500 meals and snacks in total were distributed and the team of EDS volunteers stayed on site until 11 p.m., once San Francisco Fire Department crews had fully contained the fire.
Nearby, working in conjunction with San Francisco Department of Emergency Management and American Red Cross Bay Area, The Salvation Army’s Mission Corps Community Center opened as a relocation and gathering center for evacuees awaiting approval to return to their homes. The relocation center assisted three families, though many homes were severely damaged by the thick smoke produced from the fire.
Salvation Army service teams provided a similar response to a fire at a construction site in the San Francisco Mission Bay neighborhood earlier this year.
