King County helping Snohomish County Fire District 7 conduct firefighter training

The King County Wastewater Treatment Division is collaborating with Snohomish County Fire District 7 in November to provide training opportunities for firefighters at the Brightwater treatment plant site. Fire District 7 serves Mill Creek and the Clearview, Fernwood, Bear Creek, Maltby, Lost Lake, Gold Creek and other unincorporated areas of south Snohomish County.

Before beginning plant construction next year, King County will demolish some buildings on the site along State Route 9 in Snohomish County. The Brightwater site is within the fire district, so King County offered use of some buildings for firefighter training before demolition. The partnership is part of both counties' continuing commitment to worker safety and emergency preparedness.

Firefighters will use the buildings for various training drills beginning in early November 2004 and running for two or three weeks. Conducting drills in the empty buildings will give public safety workers a useful environment for search-and-rescue training and give firefighters an opportunity to make lifesaving decisions in a real but controlled environment.

Residents may notice emergency vehicles and firefighter personnel at the site during the drills. None of the drills will involve use of fire.

The fire district will conduct the drills at various times during daylight hours to meet the schedules of volunteer firefighters. Because the site is visible from SR-9, temporary signs along the highway will tell motorists that the activities are only drills.

The training may include incident management, thermal imaging, investigations, aerial ladder placement, forcible entry, ventilation, confined-space rescue, rapid intervention, and get-out-alive exercises.

The Brightwater plant will protect public health and water quality by treating wastewater from homes, businesses, schools and offices in south Snohomish County and north King County. Wastewater from the growing population in the Brightwater service area is now treated at plants miles away in Renton and Seattle.

To request more information, contact Rachael Dillman at 206-296-1311 or rachael.dillman@kingcounty.gov. You can also visit the Brightwater project Web site.

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division serves 18 cities, 16 local sewer agencies and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Now operated by King County, the regional wastewater-treatment utility formerly known as Metro has been preventing water pollution for 40 years.