CHIMACUM — Roughly 1,000 people turned out Sunday for the third annual All County Picnic to learn the tools needed to help themselves through a major disaster like an earthquake, tsunami or, as is currently in the headlines, fire.
“This is a great opportunity for members of the community to mix and mingle with emergency response agencies,” said East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman Bill Beezley.
“We are a small community on a cul-de-sac at the end of a peninsula. During a large scale disaster our best resource will be each other.”
“This is all about collaboration,” said Danny Milholland, one of the event’s organizers.
‘Better than ever’
“This is better than ever, we have a lot more people than before, and we are helping to bring awareness about earthquake and drought and fire.”
The crowds gathered in HK Carroll County Park, interacting with about 50 vendors from government agencies and private companies selling items that will help people manage during an emergency.
Thad Bicking of Local 20/20 ran a table where people could connect with each other in order to form neighborhood groups that will share resources during a disaster.
New to groups
As of midday, Bicking had signed up about a dozen new people to join the approximately 130 neighborhood groups currently operating in the county.
The number of groups depends on the organizers and their size, Bicking said. A neighborhood group could include as few as five families and as many as 50.
Vendors provided information about food, storage and waste disposal, including data from Phlush, a Portland-based company that provides a plan as to what to do when the plumbing breaks down.
Carol McCreary, the company’s Port Townsend representative, recommended that families get several five gallon plastic jugs and create separate receptacles for liquid and solid waste.
“It’s important to keep them separate to reduce the spread of disease,” she said.
Once full, the cans can be sealed and stored in an out-of-the-way place and then wait for instructions from the local health department about their disposal, McCreary said.
‘Go packs’
The Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management was on hand to offer advice about emergency preparedness, with a list of recommended supplies and a “go pack” that people can grab at a moment’s notice if there is a disaster.
Many of these preparations will go out the window if there is a fire, Beezley said.
“We can’t plan for evacuation on a large scale when there is a major fire because you never know where the fire is coming from and how big it’s going to be,” Beezley said.
“We could try to evacuate people on the water, or we could turn two-lane roads into one way so we can get people off of the peninsula more rapidly.”
Many of the vendors stressed personal connections as the best preparedness strategy.
“We will need to help each other,” said Julia Danskin, a nurse with the Jefferson County Department of Pubic Health.
“Today we are helping people get to know local resources and find out who’s in their neighborhood. When there is a disaster, people will need to be taking care of their neighbors and the people around them.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
