WA Interagency Incident Management Team 2

Incident Commanders – Rex Reed/Bruce Holloway

NEWS RELEASE

WA-IMT2 Establishes Internet Presence

Washington State – May 27, 2004 -- The Washington Interagency Incident Management Team 2 (WA-IMT2) now supports their own Team website for public view. Over the last year, members of the WA-IMT2 have been exploring ways to expand their services to those communities they serve during wildfire assignments. “Today’s technology provides us the opportunity to better communicate with the many residents, business owners and other agencies we serve over the summer months,” says Incident Commander Bruce Holloway, one of two Commanders for the team.

The website has been created not only to provide information to the local community, but to the general public who has always had an interest in fire and the devastation it can often cause. The WA-IMT2 website will include current fire assignments, team photos, public and firefighter safety information, and links to other local, state and national situations. In addition, the site will have all-risk information related to home fire safety, emergency preparedness, and terrorism.

Many Incident Management Teams have their own team websites. This is just one of the many tools used to communicate with the general public and certainly would never replace the use of media outlets and community advisory meetings during a catastrophic incident. It does give the property owners or interested parties another avenue to gather information. During last year’s assignments, the WA-IMT2 found that even some of the most remote locations made use of internet access. “We believe the website aids our team in fulfilling the needs of the community, agency administrators and supports our mission in serving the Pacific Northwest Region. Both Bruce and I are excited we can begin to provide this additional resource,” said Incident Commander Rex Reed. For more information on the new website, contact Rex Reed, Department of Natural Resource Southeast Region at (509) 925-0968 or Bruce Holloway, Spokane County Fire District 3 at (509) 235-6645, Incident Commanders for the Washington Incident Management Team 2. www.wa-imt2.org

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