Preparing for emergencies: King County recognizes Northwest Container Services, Inc. for local contribution

2005 Archived News

Hidden behind a mural of rainbow stripes and colorful pictures in White Center, you wouldn't expect some of King County's most important emergency preparedness materials are stored here. But that's what was revealed today at a ceremony at Evergreen Pool.

King County officials, American Red Cross and disaster response officials were on hand to thank Northwest Container Services, Inc. for a generous contribution of paint that was used for covering King County emergency trucking containers that store shelter and first response equipment and supplies. The county also used the occasion to highlight its emergency preparedness plans and to recognize April as earthquake Awareness Month.

'We are grateful for the local community support. With funding challenges facing King County this year, we really appreciate the generosity of Northwest Container Services to step in and provide resources that are no longer available,' said Shad Burcham, Program Manager for the King County Office of Emergency Management.

'We are happy to celebrate the completion of this project and to contribute to making our communities safer,' said Bob Sherwood, a spokesperson for Northwest Container Services.

The event concluded with an unveiling of a mural created by students in the White Center Park Teen Program.

Working with the local Red Cross to prepare for potential mass care shelter needs, King County Parks has been installing weather resistant containers throughout the region. These containers provide enough emergency care materials to assist with mass care operations for 250 people for three days.

Funding for the eight containers was provided by a Federal Homeland Security grant. In the event of a major disaster, King County Parks would provide the first response to mass care and food and water distribution to the public. The department would also be responsible for providing shelter and coverage for evacuated victims.

'These partnerships between King County and the American Red Cross help raise public awareness about disaster preparedness,' said John Simpson, Director of Emergency Services for the American Red Cross serving King and Kitsap Counties. 'We are committed to working together to build better-prepared communities, which ultimately strengthens our disaster relief capabilities.'

'Effective emergency preparedness requires collaboration among the public and private entities and our partnerships support this need,' said Suzanne Little, Director for King County Parks. Little also announced the recent completion of a King County Parks Emergency Response Plan for mass care operations after a disaster.

Pointing out that April is Earthquake Awareness Month, Burcham reminded people to create their own family emergency plan and storage of emergency supplies at their home, workplace, and automobile. With more than 1,000 earthquakes recorded in Washington State last year, Burcham emphasized more attention should be paid to preparing for such an event among residents of the Central Puget Sound region.

'We've been lucky that our recent earthquake activity has been relatively quiet, however we can not forget that we live in a region with a very active fault line, residents should always be prepared with a plan and emergency supplies for a minimum of three days,' said Burcham.

Northwest Container Services, Inc. is a local company specializing in providing containerized logistics transportation services. Located in Portland, the company operates several offices throughout the Northwest.

For more information about the King County Homeland Security for Mass Care First Responders program, please contact Bobbi Wallace at 206-296-4248.

To find out more about what citizens can do to prepare their home, family, and business for hazards in Washington State, visit www.metrokc.gov/prepare.