Disaster plan a priority in Arlington

Published 10:34 pm Sunday, June 22, 2008

ARLINGTON — If an earthquake shakes the buildings in the city’s old downtown neighborhood, merchants and property owners want to be prepared.

The Downtown Arlington Business Association is the latest organization to join an effort by the city’s emergency management coordinator to ensure that everybody has a disaster plan.

With not much effort, the business association is going to be able to assemble such a plan, the group’s president, Jeanne Watanabe, said.

“We are establishing a foundation of safety,” Watanabe said.

Under the direction of city emergency management coordinator Christine Badger, officials from the Arlington Fire Department, the Arlington School District and Cascade Valley Hospital have been working on coordinating emergency plans for about a year.

This month, the business association is mapping the buildings along Olympic Avenue, making sure every gas, water and electrical shutoff is marked, that fire extinguishers are accessible and that emergency handbooks are distributed.

The association plans to advise business owners to eliminate potential hazards in their buildings and encourage actions such as securing cabinets, bookshelves and water heaters to walls.

The group also is logging the number of residents in second-floor apartments in the retail neighborhood, as well as making note of all basements and stairways.

Volunteers in the business association plan to learn how to use fire extinguishers and heart defibrillators and how to conduct a quick damage assessment in order to help emergency crews during a crisis.

“These are all manageable things a community can do,” Badger said. “And in doing them, we can come together to recover from disasters that come our way.”

Volunteers in the Gleneagle residential neighborhood also have begun to map their area and prepare a disaster plan, and several nursing care facilities in the city are on board with the effort, as well, Badger said.

More volunteers are needed to train to help in case decontamination efforts are necessary, and Badger also is looking for business owners who can offer space from which disaster recovery efforts could be staged.

“In another year we should have a solid emergency plan for the entire city,” Badger said.

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.

How to volunteer

To learn more about Arlington’s emergency management program or to volunteer, call Christine Badger at 360-403-3600 or e-mail cbadger@ci.arlington.wa.us.

The Downtown Arlington Business Association plans a “Disaster Block Walk,” visiting business owners and tenants, from 1 to 3 p.m. today along Olympic Avenue.