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closeWinter comes calling
Power outage: 2,900 homes affected
David Poe/Northwest Guardian
Scott Hansen/Northwest Guardian
Soldiers with 557th Engr. Co., 864th Engr. Bn., work along Eighth Street Monday near Building 2027 on JBLM Lewis Main, cleaning up debris from last week’s winter storm. Photo by Scott Hansen/Northwest Guardian.
Servicemembers, civilians and their families continue to rebound from a winter weather wallop that hit Joint Base Lewis-McChord, along with the greater Puget Sound region last week. Since the storm arrived early Jan. 18, troops and civilians worked around the clock to restore operations to an installation that had closed to non-essential personnel through Jan. 20.
Snowfall that in this area normally takes a year to accumulate met freezing rain last week to wreak havoc on utilities. Approximately 2,900 on-base homes, most of them on McChord Field, lost power. About 900 of those went dark for more than 24 hours.
With only a few exceptions, teams from JBLM’s Directorate of Public Works and 627th Civil Engineering Squadron restored “main” power to all joint base neighborhoods.
Todd Vasko, managing director for Equity Residential, managing company for JBLM’s privatized housing, said joint basing meant streamlined communication, and therefore quicker incident response times. Equity has mananged Army and Air Force housing since Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base became JBLM more than a year ago.
“During this storm we had one or two points of contact, not four or five,” Vasko said. “That’s where joint basing works. To have the Army, the Air Force and our assets come together and be in constant contact with streamlined communication was important for my maintenance team.”
With direct support from JBLM’s Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation under the guidance of the JBLM garrison command team, DPW Housing Chief Greta Powell said her team saw some serious utility issues for her off-installation military families.
She recommended alternative options which took shape as two “warming centers.” The makeshift FMWR facilities located on JBLM Lewis North and McChord Field, served to provide welcome comforts to joint base residents including quick warm-ups, hot showers and even warm beds for families needing them. FMWR also had financial specialists and other Army Community Service-related counselors on hand to serve those who needed emergency family assistance.
While utility service has returned to JBLM neighborhoods, Vasko said he realizes that many residents are still dealing with storm-related issues and will continue to wrestle with them in the near future.
“Debris is going to be the big thing,” he said. “We’re estimating half a million tons of debris being hauled off in the next few weeks.” He added that while he expected a backlog of maintenance calls to continue throughout this week, he projected high-priority calls to be back on track by the weekend.
Powell said three Jackson Barracks facilities in the vicinity of Madigan Annex lost power during the inclement weather. While two were brought back online quickly, 26 Madigan Healthcare System student-Soldiers housed in Building 9906 were relocated to other quarters for a day until repairs were completed.
JBLM DPW headed the snow treatment and removal effort on main thoroughfares and critical areas like McChord Field’s flightline, work that continued throughout the week. Steve Perrenot, DPW director, said in addition to sanding, some JBLM roads were treated with flightline-grade chemicals that lowered the freezing point of the pavement before descending air temperatures made the snow stick.
Equity personnel also started snow removal preparations approximately two days before any serious accumulation on JBLM roads and streets.
“We started the Saturday before the holiday and continued for eight straight days of snow removal and sanding,” Vasko said. “Some of our guys didn’t go home for four days. On Thursday we asked for people to come in and they did, realizing our residents had a need and they were concerned. They did the same thing on Saturday. They answered the call and we’re proud of our team.”
Like Vasko, Powell credited streamlined, organized communication and cooperation across a wide array of organizations for successes in the face of adversity.
“In a very difficult set of circumstances people came together and not only helped themselves and their neighbors,” she said, “but worked with us to make sure priorities were met — clear roads, preserve life and safety, and get to debris removal.”
Equity employees have been joined by 555th Engineer Brigade Soldiers and other servicemembers and civilians in the ongoing clean-up effort.
Powell was impressed by the myriad demonstrations of character and selflessness by emergency personnel and volunteers on JBLM during the adverse conditions.
“There (are) plenty of examples: I saw crews working on trees with limbs that were infringing on roofs, and despite having no power, a family brought hot chocolate for the workers made by using a kerosene lamp,” she said. “Sometimes the most difficult circumstances bring out the best in people and that’s definitely true about the past week.”
As normal operations resumed Monday, Col. Thomas Brittain, JBLM commander, expressed his gratitude for the many demonstrations of installation teamwork, and emphasized that the clean-up effort will continue until it’s done.
“We’ve had dedicated men and women, civilian and military, working around the clock,” he said. “We have plenty of clean-up remaining, but we’re fully able to perform all of our misisons.”
Who to call
• Housing Division asks that those in housing with maintenance issues call 912-3500.
• Individuals living or working in military facilities should call DPW’s maintenance line at 967-3131.
Related:
JBLM stands up warming centers
Facebook updates community on storm
For more winter storm photos, visit us on Flickr