A homeless shelter that was also operating as a cooling center caught fire overnight, leaving 20 people without a place to stay.
Firefighters responded to heavy smoke and fire coming from the second-floor bathroom of the New Hope Homeless Shelter in Vernon early Friday morning.
"Thankfully we were able to get there quickly. Get the fire under the control and prevent a catastrophic incident here," said Assistant Chief Robert Babcock of the Vernon Volunteer Fire Department.
Babcock says flames broke out just after 3:00 this morning. More than 20 firefighters were on site.
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"During this heat wave, we did prompt a response from all five of our firehouses to bring more relief personnel in," said Babcock.
Babcock says he believes it was an electrical fire caused by a ceiling fan. The fire did not spread to any other room in the building but caused enough damage to shut it down.
"Really six families who were staying here, 12 adults and 8 children temporarily," said Sharon Redfern, Executive Director of Cornerstone Foundation Inc.
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Redfern supervises the shelter. She also oversees two other homeless shelters, a community kitchen, and a food pantry in Vernon.
She says she is relieved no one was hurt and amazed at how the community came together to help her clients.
"Cornerstone always has a very good community support pipeline," said Redfern.
Redfern says a local bakery owner heard about what happened and connected the shelter with an electrician in town. But he didn't stop there; he also provided breakfast for the residents.
"It's too bad when things like this happen, but I know our community comes together and will take care of it," said Josh Virkler, owner of Luann's Bakery & Cafe.
The homeless shelter will be closed for the time being, but Redfern says she plans to get it back open within two or three days.
The American Red Cross is helping the six families affected by this fire.
