Governor Jay Inslee’s statewide “stay home, stay healthy” order, meant to slow the spread of a deadly new coronavirus, seems to be helping local first responders by alleviating the normal flow of calls for things like vehicle accidents and other non-virus related emergencies.
“It’s been very quiet, and the call volume is quite a bit lower than would be expected for this time of year,” Camas-Washougal Fire Chief Nick Swinhart told the Post-Record today. “The fact that a lot of people are staying home means there are fewer people around and fewer car crashes.”
In an interview with Camas Mayor Barry McDonnell posted to the city of Camas’ YouTube channel earlier this week, Camas Police Chief Mitch Lackey agreed that the number of calls coming into his department have gone down since the governor issued the “stay home” order.