ST. GEORGE — A St. George center that aids those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia had to be evacuated shortly after noon Tuesday after what was thought to be a gas leak but ended up being “something else.”
Memory Matters, a nonprofit that provides personalized care to those with Alzheimer’s and dementia and their families, had to completely empty their center on 100 East.
All of the center’s clients and staff were not only safely evacuated, but ended up receiving a free day of enlightenment and cookies at the St. George Art Museum.
Memory Matters Director LuAnn Lundquist told St. George News that staff and clients with dementia were eating lunch around 12:30 p.m. when there was a rotten egg smell that resembled the additive to natural gas.
“We had to evacuate and it was raining hard and we were wondering what we were going to do,” Lundquist said. “The smell was still really strong in the parking lot when the fire department showed up full-blown.”
St. George Deputy Fire Chief Brad Esplin said the Fire Department responded within five minutes and when they arrived, everyone was already out.
“They did everything right on their part,” he said.
With the rain falling and no sign they would be able to go back inside anytime soon, the best staff could do was load up clients and staff in the center’s vehicles and head off without an ultimate destination.
Then they came upon the St. George Art Museum on 200 North next to the Opera House. The Memory Matters team stopped there and Lundquist said the staff of the museum stepped up.
“We just showed up and they were really good to help us out and brought a bunch of cookies,” Lundquist said. “They turned something that was scary wet and turned it into a great thing.”
Also stepping up were the clients themselves, coming to the aid of each other.
“They wrapped blankets around each other,” Lundquist said. “They are just awesome people.”
As of 2 p.m., the clients and staff remained at the Art Museum while the St. George Fire Department remained back at the center working to find the source of the problem. Lundquist said she was told later by firefighters that the issue wasn’t a gas leak.
Esplin said they aren’t entirely sure what the rotten smell was, but the Fire Department and a Dominion Energy worker determined there was not a gas leak and the building was cleared and deemed safe for return around 3:30 p.m.
“It’s just a smell. We couldn’t narrow it down,” Esplin said. “It could have been stagnant water or something in the fridge.”
Between the firefighters and St. George city officials who reached out and provided services at the city-owned museum, Lundquist said she felt grateful.
“The community came together to help the vulnerable,” she said.
Photo Gallery
File photo of the outside of Memory Matters' headquarters in St. George, Utah, Jan. 21, 2020 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News A client of the Memory Matters Alzheimer's and dementia center enjoys a day at the St. George Art Museum after an evacuation, St. George, Utah, Jan. 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of LuAnn Lundquist/Memory Matters, St. George News Staff and clients of the Memory Matters Alzheimer's and dementia center enjoy a day at the St. George Art Museum after an evacuation, St. George, Utah, Jan. 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of LuAnn Lundquist/Memory Matters, St. George News (L-R) A client and a staff member of the Memory Matters Alzheimer's and dementia center enjoy a day at the St. George Art Museum after an evacuation, St. George, Utah, Jan. 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of LuAnn Lundquist/Memory Matters, St. George News Staff and clients of the Memory Matters Alzheimer's and dementia center enjoy a day at the St. George Art Museum after an evacuation, St. George, Utah, Jan. 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of LuAnn Lundquist/Memory Matters, St. George News (L-R) A staff member and a client of the Memory Matters Alzheimer's and dementia center enjoy a day at the St. George Art Museum after an evacuation, St. George, Utah, Jan. 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of LuAnn Lundquist/Memory Matters, St. George News (L-R) A staff member and a client of the Memory Matters Alzheimer's and dementia center enjoy a day at the St. George Art Museum after an evacuation, St. George, Utah, Jan. 23, 2024 | Photo courtesy of LuAnn Lundquist/Memory Matters, St. George News
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