More than 30 community organizations stepped up to help an Ohio nursing home that was hit by a devastating fire this week, supplying everything from pureed foods to pick-up trucks needed to move furniture.

People in wheelchairs and beds were evacuated from Pataskala Oaks Care Center, about 20 miles east of Columbus, and moved to the Pataskala Church of the Nazarene during a fire that started in the kitchen Monday.

While the 73 residents were rushed to safety, others rushed to help, WBNS reported.

Director of Operations Derrick Ratliff said the staff and community response had been remarkable.

“At the end of the day not a single thing was missed as it relates to treatments, medications, anything that they had a need was managed,” he told the television station.

Emergency planning had previously identified holding stations and potential homes for transfers, and community members stepped up to support about three dozen day shift workers as they processed residents.

Nurses came from other healthcare settings. Volunteers brought water. They brought food. The owner of a local barbeque joint brought smoked meat and blenders to process it for residents on special diets.

Fire officials determined that the fire began in a kitchen electrical panel, and spread to the attic and beyond. Fire alarms activated properly, and residents were already outside when the fire company arrived.

Many were comfortable at the nearby Nazarene Church, whose pastor visits for Bible study with residents.
An official at Pataskala Oaks told McKnight’s no reopen date had been set as of Wednesday. But cleanup continues, and staff is splitting time between the original facility and the several local homes that have taken in evacuees.