Evacuation happened in flash at Cape assisted living facility

CAPE CORAL, Fla. It was a perfect illustration of why you plan for disaster.

Staff needed only about 20 minutes to evacuate 24 residents — 22 of whom can’t walk on their own — as a Thursday afternoon brush fire threatened the Sunrise Community assisted living facility, Sunrise Program Support Assistant Darren Kenyon said. 

All of the residents’ medical records, medication and food were also taken out of the facility at 2821 SW Pine Island Road in that short window of time, Kenyon said. The fire was contained before any buildings were damaged, but Sunrise wasn’t taking any chances as flames reached within 100 yards of its front door.

“We had to take everything because we didn’t know if we were coming back, so we have to make sure we’re protecting the data, we’re protecting the individual,” Kenyon said.

It’s a matter of practice makes perfect.

“We do annual practice and we do full evacuations once a year so in emergency situations like last night, everyone knows what to do, when to do it,” Kenyon said.

Sunrise uses carts for each resident that have all the supplies necessary. That allows staff to simply grab them, grab a records book, and go, Kenyon said.

“What we use is ready to go at a moment’s notice because our med carts have wheels on them,” he said. “So we just roll them onto the cart and up we go.”

Residents were taken to a daytime activities center a few miles away, but they weren’t there for long. Firefighters quickly handled the blaze and the Sunrise residents were back in the facility by 7 p.m., just two hours after they left.

The cause of the fire remains unclear, but since it didn’t damage any property, firefighters aren’t continuing to investigate.