ISN’T IT TRUE in life, when one door closes and appears locked up tight, you can usually find another door that opens that can help you get where you want to go?
I say that because I heard a comment that a reader, after learning from my Dec. 12 column about the Back County Horsemen Mt. Olympus Chapter was closing, mistakenly thought I wrote that all three of the North Olympic Chapters were closing. Not true. East Jefferson County’s Buckhorn Range and Clallam County’s Peninsula Chapters are still strong and thriving.
Sometimes when a door you want to go through is closed, it’s just a question of knocking, waiting for a response and knocking again until someone comes and opens the door.
Or you may have to do a bit of searching around to find it. Occasionally, metaphorically speaking, you may even need to bust open your own entry point.
Which is why I tried, yet again, to contact Clallam County’s Emergency Management Division to see if there was any progress on having an official emergency disaster plan of action in place for horses, and their owners, should they need to evacuate immediately due to a fast-moving wildfire.
Until a few years ago, wildfires close to home weren’t something I worried about. After all, we normally get enough rainfall year-round to keep moisture in the air, trees and even the dormant summer grasses.
You don’t need to be a scientist to see weather patterns have changed here. Rain has been sparser annually, the ground dryer and weather hotter, causing wildfires to grow bigger, stronger and faster all up, down and near the Pacific coast.
A few times I was so worried a wildfire would spark close to home I had my horse trailer packed with food and water, and hooked up to my truck, so I’d be ready to load the horses up and flee at a moment’s notice.
But where to? I live in Sequim. If the fire was west of me and the Hood Canal bridge still drivable, I was just going to show up and park at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. Why? I’ve been there with my truck, trailer and horses before, so I am familiar with it. Plenty of parking and land for me to set up my temporary fence corral for the horses, and I could keep my dogs with me (on leashes).
If the fire was south of Sequim, I planned on driving to the Clallam Fairgrounds. The problem is, there’s no formal agreement with Kitsap and Clallam fairgrounds to accept evacuees and their animals. But guess what. When forced to evacuate, people are going to go where they know there is open space, parking and water. Plus, fairgrounds usually have a secure fence around the perimeter, some stalls and an arena.
Both places would be safer and run more efficiently in response to a natural disaster if a plan was in place. Then respondents and those in charge would just have to look at the plan and go step-by-step through it in order to get things up and running right away, without having to stop and make a plan after inundated with people.
So, it’s kind of been a point of contention for me that there is no written, planned community response. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, post-incident response activities can occur simultaneously with recovery efforts to stabilize community lifelines.
Key action items preparedness, response and recovery.
And that’s why I’m so excited the new Emergency Management Program Coordinator Justine Chorley is herself determined to get a county-approved plan before the start of 2026.
In my Oct. 12 column, “Better to be safe than sorry in an emergency,” a call for volunteers knowledgeable about the feed, shelter and care of either, or both, large and small animals to help design the plan.
Several responded and committed to helping. A call for volunteers to join the committee went out, several committed, and a public meeting was set for Jan. 24 — and that date will soon be upon us. Due to Chorley needing to finish up other 2024 projects, she couldn’t spend much time working with the volunteers until the meeting.
In the meantime, she agreed to meet with me and three other volunteers, Debi Pavlich-Boaz, Judy Sarles (BCH Peninsula Chapter President) and Ken Bearly, whose work experience includes emergency disaster response.
To date, we’ve met three times, and I think we’ve got the grassroots layout in place. We’ve also moved the original Jan. 24 starting time to 5 p.m. from 7 p.m.
Our committee’s official name is CCEM Animal Disaster Planning Committee. Our first open-to-everyone meeting will be from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., lower level, Suite 12.
Courthouse doors are always locked by 4:30 p.m. An attendant will be at the front door to let people in until about 5:20 p.m. To get in after that, text me, don’t call, at 360-460-6299 and someone will meet you at the door.
The virtual meeting link will be posted at Clallam CountyWA.gov/EM and on the Facebook page Clallam County Emergency Management.
Interested in joining our committee? To participate, email Chorley at justine. chorley@clallamcountywa.gov, with a copy to me at kbg@olympus.net. You may also phone Chorley at 360-417-2525.
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Karen Griffiths’ column, Peninsula Horseplay, appears the second and fourth Saturday of each month.
If you have a horse event, clinic or seminar you would like listed, please email Griffiths at kbg@olympus.net at least two weeks in advance. You can also call her at 360-460-6299.
