Before it had emerged three elderly residents had died and seven other hospitalised, residents joined the emergency services and care home staff to facilitate the response.
Dozens of people, some with associations to the All Saints Church and others without, brought aid, food including bacon sandwiches and biscuits and blankets to the hall.
Resident Charlotte Harris watched the initial response unfold from her living room and witnessed the residents being wheeled to the church and “the most emergency services vehicles” she had ever seen.
Charlotte Harris, 34 (Image: Daily Echo)
The 34-year-old said Swanage is in “shock” and added: “It’s a tragedy that doesn’t seem real. There’s a lot of sadness and I don’t think it will stop today.
“Once everything has come out and calmed down, there will be a big mourning of the town if there isn’t already. But at the moment everybody is just rallying around to help.”
Charlotte, a social media consultant and business owner, added: “We have an empty shop that my parents had for 37 years, so I went across to see if they needed help evacuating and let them know we have a space here.”
She was also a former worker at the care home when it was called the James Day Care Centre and put her knowledge to good use, helping with the initial evacuation.
“I wanted to do all I could to help because you could see something big was going on, but I’m not sure what was going on at the time.
“But they were handling it all well, the emergency services, and I’ve never seen anything on that scale and I’ve lived in London.”
Maggie O’Neill, 76 (Image: Daily Echo)
(Image: Daily Echo)
Swanage resident Maggie O’Neill said: “They were wheeling people down the road and I just put my clothes on and went to help.
“The poor things were shocked, they had their nighties on and slippers. It was like when you see television in other parts of the world, that reminded me of what they were going through.”
The 76-year-old volunteer added: “The community were brilliant. I was the second, third person to be there and by the time I left at a quarter to 12 there were at least 20 people.
“One of the workers from the home said ‘could you clear this room?’ as it was full of medics, they were all in there.
“In 1953, there was a huge flood in Belvedere [London], my neck of the woods, and my parents were helpers in the community.
“All the people who were flooded were in the church hall – it was almost exactly the same, it all came rushing back to me.”
Mrs O’Neill added most of the care home residents inside the church hall were “quiet and bemused” as they “didn’t really know what was happening”.
Swanage resident Maggie O’Neill (Image: Daily Echo)
All Saints Church in Ulwell Road (Image: Daily Echo)
Reverend Jo Levasier, of All Saints Church where the residents and paramedics stayed throughout Wednesday, said the community response has been “amazing”.
She said: “We had about 40 residents in our care for the day and they started arriving at about 8.30am and the final ones left the church at around 11 at night.
“People stepped up where they could, another local care home came and provided food and sent staff and all the people who weren’t on duty came down to help. It was an amazing effort.”
She added: “Any sort of death is sad, but for us our focus was on the caring of those who needed homes.”
The weekly coffee morning held in the church hall every Thursday morning was also cancelled “to make sure area is safe” as there was still a lot of equipment left behind, she added.
“It is a lovely care home having been there yesterday I would be happy to have been looked after by the staff, they were exemplary.”
Janet White, 84, a retired magistrate who lives near the care home, said the incident was “devastating”.
She said: “It’s been very upsetting for people around here. The care home has links throughout the community.
“In my own case, my husband was cared for at home by Agincare and I have nothing but praise for them.”
Gainsborough Care Home is run by Agincare and had been caring for 48 residents, all elderly and some with dementia.
“Something like this, when it happens where you live, is devastating for everyone,” Ms White added.
George Manning, who has lived near the care home for several years, said: “We’ve never had any concerns about the place before.
“We were staggered when we saw what was happening yesterday with all the emergency vehicles, and then to hear someone had been arrested was shocking.
“I imagine it’s going to be a big investigation before they get to the bottom of it.”
Chris Moreton, 75, community response officer for Dorset Council, said the community has responded incredibly following the deaths.
Mr Moreton said the council has designated “rest centres” in place for when emergencies happen in the local area.
“We have a number of centres within Swanage that can respond to emergency events,” he said.
A spokesman for Gainsborough care home said: “We would like to extend our thanks to our care teams for their work in managing the situation and caring for residents during such a challenging time.
“We are also grateful for the kind messages received and the practical support provided from partner public sector agencies, the local community and other social care providers.
“The home has long been a core part of the Swanage community, and our residents, families and team members are all affected by this tragic incident and are touched by the support received.”