When an explosion rattled downtown Red Deer on Thursday afternoon, injuring five workers at a bus depot, some of the city's most vulnerable residents were the first on the scene.

Perry Goddard, executive director at Safe Harbour Society, said eight men and women who rely on the society's emergency shelter rushed in to help within seconds of the blast. 

Goddard said his clients and staff were instrumental in rescuing the workers who were caught in the explosion and the fire that followed. 

"These a…