Among the many reasons that make Jefferson County special are the services provided to the community. Although our population is among the least dense in the state, we enjoy access to a level of emergency services comparable to more densely populated communities.

Emergency services are built and staffed to handle the typical emergency workload, with a capacity to handle events such as storms, medical emergencies, or vehicle accidents. Due to our remote location, during a major event like a structure fire, or when multiple incidents happen at the same time, we rely on off-duty personnel to augment our workforce. 

At a recent house fire, we more than doubled our active staffing using off-duty responders. We need our firefighters, nurses, healthcare and utility workers to live close to where they work.

Jefferson County’s shortage of housing makes it challenging for our frontline workforce to reside within our county, leading to long commutes that impact their ability to support a major emergency in a timely manner. It is within our mutual best interest to have our frontline workers live among us, assuring our resilience during major emergencies, particularly if our roads and bridges are damaged in a natural disaster. Access to housing within Jefferson County for our frontline workers is achievable, and should be on everyone’s mind as we ask ourselves, “What can we do to prepare for the next catastrophe?”

Bret Black
PORT TOWNSEND