Inspiring response

Soon after the initial alarms were sounded for the Parkside West apartment fire in New London Tuesday night, the American Red Cross was there to help. And so were city officials.

"They stepped right up to the plate," said Sue Rochester-Bolen, senior director of emergency services for the Connecticut chapter of the American Red Cross. "By the time I got to the scene there was a plan in place."

New London Fire Chief Ronald Samul was directing firefighters who were rescuing occupants from the upper floors and battling the raging conflagration as police Chief Margaret "Peg" Ackley called for the city manager to open the senior center at the Richard R. Martin Center and find a bus to transport displaced tenants of the Willetts Avenue apartment complex.

Fortunately, no one died in the fire that destroyed the 37-unit brick and vinyl-sided building near the Waterford town line, and the few smoke-inhalation injuries were not life-threatening. Even some tenants' cats were spared, found wet and frightened Wednesday morning, but alive, eliciting shrieks of delight from their worried owners.

A bright light in the otherwise devastating loss of property was the bravery and professionalism of the city's firefighters and police, the compassion and resourcefulness of the American Red Cross and the expedient and human response of city leaders and politicians.

New London can handle a crisis.

In the coming days and weeks, those now homeless will need myriad assistance. The apartment complex has been condemned and all its occupants will require new housing, as well as everything else, since some lost all their possessions.

Landlords have already responded, offering housing. Congressman Joe Courtney's office will assist in replacing documents such as Social Security and Medicare cards.

The public can do its part by contributing to the Red Cross, which uses donations to help those in need. Parkside West tenants could use a helping hand now.