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On Friday, Apr. 29, along with neighboring school districts, Orting School District (OSD) will partake in the annual lahar evacuation exercise, the largest volcano evacuation drill in the country.
The purpose of the exercise is to educate and prepare students in the case of a lahar event from Mount Rainier. The East Pierce Interlocal Coalition Management Team (EPIC) coordinates and designed this exercise to test and improve the ability to evacuate students and staff.
With an expected start time of 10 a.m., OSD Students and Staff will exit their school and practice walking the designated emergency evacuation routes from the valley floor out of the lahar hazard area. For OSD, the exercise stopping point will be the Washington Soldiers’ Home and Colony in Orting, approximately two miles one-way.
Once completed, Orting Primary School (OPS) and Ptarmigan Ridge Elementary (PTR) Students and Staff will take a bus back to their campus, and Orting Middle (OMS) and Orting High School (OHS) will walk back to theirs. All students and staff should return no later than noon.
Students who are not physically able to participate in the exercise will take a round-trip bus ride from their school to the Washington Soldiers’ Home and Colony.
For more information regarding the lahar evacuation exercise, contact Executive Director for Student Support Services Chris Willis at 360-893-6500, ext. 4027, or at willisc@orting.wednet.edu.
For media inquiries, contact Public Information Officer Rashaad O'Neal at 360-893-6500, ext. 4033, or at onealr@orting.wednet.edu.
