I am pleased to have been made aware that the White Salmon Valley School District (WSVSD) actively engaged in planning for a much-needed capital improvements and re-structuring plan for the future. While I cannot recite specifics, I am of the mind that healthy schools, with modern facilities that aesthetically represent the community, are critical to fostering a vibrant community, which positively impacts livability and fosters economic health. Importantly, those efforts increase public safety for children, staff, and users of the school facilities.
For several years, district staff and mine have conducted collaborative fire safety site visits to each building owned by WSVSD. Staff has worked hard to maintain a safe environment for children and staff. When minor things have been pointed out, they are quickly rectified. We look forward to continued engagement on all things related to fire safety prevention and student/staff public safety education efforts.
As your fire chief, I am entrusted to constantly look through the lens of public safety around the community. The current layout and age of the school buildings; critical components of the buildings such as electrical, gas, and water supply; and construction type continue to cause me concerns related to how we can effectively stop a fire in the middle of the night, safely evacuate students during the day, and support our other emergency response partners during potential law enforcement events. The campuses currently lack the ability to segregate students, staff, and buildings, and prevent unauthorized access. Today’s availability to create video and sound capability directly with our emergency 911 center is also a much needed tool. Construction components of several buildings are concerning as well, related to predictable risks. Whitson Elementary, for example, is notoriously vulnerable to collapse should we experience an earthquake. A good share of the buildings are constructed with flat-roof, post and beam construction that becomes vulnerable to collapse during snow events. As the buildings age, this threat continues to climb. Aging portable classrooms have also become a concern as they are subject to increased fire risk as they age. Should a fire ever be firmly seated into any of the large buildings, fire hydrants can be predicted to quickly consume water reserves from nearby storage facilities. Suppressing a large fire at, for example, Henkle Middle School or Whitson Elementary will be difficult at best for several reasons.
There are multiple areas of the WSVSD campuses that, if upgraded, will dramatically protect the extremely large investment of the community while improving safety and vitality of students, staff, and the public. As we work towards improving our Property Protection Classification through Washington Survey and Ratings, everything that can be done to improve fire safety and construction with your facilities will have a direct affect on the overall community’s insurability.
I am in support of any project that improves resiliency and safety for our public school facilities. I also support any project that directly improves our community’s livability and economic prosperity. Good public schools do attract families and businesses.
I thank the WSVSD team for their hard work and continued support towards both of our missions.
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Wesley W. Long is fire chief of West Klickitat Regional Fire Authority.
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