Bagging rights: Machine beats muscle in emergency preparedness exercise

More than 20 first responders, including police officers from Pacific, Bellevue, King County, and firefighters from Bellevue, Buckley, East Pierce Fire and Rescue and the Valley Regional Fire Authority, participated at Monday's Take Winter By Storm emergency preparedness event in Pacific.

By Shawn Skager • October 23, 2013 7:56 pm
Pacific Police Lt. Edwin Massey and firefighters fill sandbags at Monday’s Take Winter By Storm emergency preparedness event in Pacific.
Pacific Police Lt. Edwin Massey and firefighters fill sandbags at Monday’s Take Winter By Storm emergency preparedness event in Pacific.

More than 20 first responders, including police officers from Pacific, Bellevue, King County, and firefighters from Bellevue, Buckley, East Pierce Fire and Rescue and the Valley Regional Fire Authority, participated at Monday’s Take Winter By Storm emergency preparedness event in Pacific.

The exercise pitted a team of human sandbag fillers against the King County Department of Emergency Management’s sandbagging machine to determine which could fill and stack the most bags in 10 minutes.

The machine edged out the humans, 120 to 104 bags.

Take Winter By Storm is King County’s program to raise awareness and help residents prepare for winter flooding and weather-related emergencies.