Orting Valley Fire Chief Updates Disaster Preparedness Efforts

Responding to unexpected emergencies is a large part of what firefighters do. They also need to plan for large-scale events that affect the entire community. “Part of my job is to prepare our community for a natural disaster. Whether that’s a low-probability, high-risk event such as a Lahar or a more frequent danger such as a flood, landslide or ice storm, being prepared is critical to saving lives,” says Orting Valley Fire and Rescue Fire Chief Zane Gibson.

Gibson has been working with city, county, state and federal agencies to update and refine the regional plan of action in case of a Lahar, but he says, the plan can be implemented for any number of natural disasters. “When a natural disaster strikes, we will be on our own for at least the first 12-to-24 hours before help arrives. Everyone needs to be ready,” he says. That includes the fire department, city, county, state federal officials and residents.

On Thursday, Orting Valley Fire and Rescue will join the Orting School District and the Orting Police Department for the first time in their annual Lahar Drill. Simultaneously, the fire department will practice its evacuation drill, moving fire engines and medic units to higher ground to ensure they don’t get trapped and rendered unusable during a disaster. “Our number one goal is to rehearse the plan,” Gibson says.

Beginning at 9:10 a.m., students from Orting Middle School and Ptamigan Ridge Intermediate School will be walking along Eldridge Avenue Northwest and crossing at Calistoga Street Southwest.

Orting High School students will be crossing Washington Avenue North (State Route 162) at Whitesell, continuing to the North Park. All but the primary students will walk to the Washington State Soldiers Home.

The school district advises residents that there will be some traffic and pedestrian congestion during the drill.

Gibson says that working with the school and police is just one step in a larger plan to help Orting Valley become better prepared for disaster. He is putting into place several lessons he learned as part of a bi-national exchange in Lahar preparedness. Last year, he travelled with a delegation of 10 local and state officials to Columbia, South America to hear about the hard lessons learned from a 1985 Lahar that hit Amero, Columbia—an area strikingly similar to the Orting Valley. Later that same year, representatives from Columbia came to the U.S., including Orting, to study Lahar preparedness plans in this country.

“The first lesson I learned from a survivor of the 1985 Amero Lahar was that it’s not enough to tell people that they need to evacuate, you need to tell them where to evacuate,” Gibson says. He is working with the county to improve Lahar signage that directs people to specific evacuation sites.

Secondly, he has developed a template to be used by the firefighters for their families, so they will be prepared to care for themselves while their firefighter husband or wife is caring for the community. The template asks families to note where the water and gas shutoff is for their home and to list out-of-state emergency contacts, for example. “Our firefighters will need to be focused on the task at hand. This will help reassure them that their family is taken care of so they can do their work,” Gibson says.

He has also developed a phased plan for if Mt. Rainier awakens. At each phase, the firefighters have responsibilities that include moving fire engines and medic units to higher ground. “In the previous Lahar plan, we were considered evacuees. We are not. We will be running in when everyone is running out. But first, we need to ensure that we will have all of our equipment and supplies,” Gibson says.

He notes that, just like the citizens, the fire department needs to stock up on disaster supplies. “It’s in our budget for next year,” he says. The supplies will be stored in areas that will be in the safety zone and can be used during a long-term rescue and recovery effort, regardless of the nature of the disaster.

Finally, he is working to establish relationships with neighboring fire departments who will, in all likelihood, also be responding to a disaster in the Orting Valley. Gibson plans to schedule table top exercises with all responding agencies to run through the previous Lahar plan in order to note any needed updates.

One of the most complex challenges is how to evacuate panicked people in both cars and on foot. In Amero, a number of deaths were attributed to pedestrian/car collisions. A community group, Bridge for Kids, has spent 16 years developing a plan to build a pedestrian bridge from Orting, east of downtown across the Carbon River. This evacuation route would avoid many of the major roadways. The largest stumbling block to the plan has been funding,

In the meantime, Gibson suggests that residents be encouraged to walk, instead of drive, to the safety of the Pierce County Quarry above the Washington State Solders Home. To help raise awareness regarding how easy this can be, he announced to the City Council, in a recent meeting, that the fire department plans to partner with other community organizations on an annual Walk to the Solders Home, beginning in 2015. “The purpose of the community event is to raise awareness that we can walk to safety,” he says.

Orting City Council member Barbara Ford noted that it isn’t just the fire department that needs to plan for the worse. “Our first responders are working hours and hours to prepare, but it’s all of our responsibility to be prepared,” she says. She noted that each household must have a “go pack” by the door and in the car, prepare a list of out-of-state contacts and teach children what to do in case their parents are not with them.

When disaster strikes in the Orting Valley, being prepared will help mitigate the loss of life and property. “The fire department will have the biggest impact in the first 12-to-24 hours following a disaster. That is what we are preparing to do,” Gibson says.

Emergency Planning Websites:
Several websites provide helpful recommendations, including:

•Federal Emergency Management Agency (www.fema.gov)
•Pierce County (www.co.pierce.wa.us)
•Ready.gov
•Orting City website (www.cityoforting.org)