King County opens first decontamination site for officers

AUBURN, Wash. -- King County's very first decontamination site is up and running for law enforcement officers to disinfect themselves and their equipment before going home.

South King Fire and Rescue developed the site at South King Fire Station 61 in Auburn. It is open to all officers anytime, day and night.

Police Chief Ken Thomas with the Des Moines Police Department says his officers have been using it for several weeks.

"Our department has used this site already a couple times where officers have been exposed to dangerous situations and we don't take any chances," said Thomas.

Officers who have come in contact with coronavirus while on duty can take private showers and have their weapons, body vests, uniforms or vehicles disinfected.

"We use our atomizing sprayers that are EPA approved disinfectants. We let that sit for 10 minutes even though the minimum kill time is 1-3 minutes and let it air out," said Lt. Gref Willett with South King Fire and Rescue.

South King Fire and Rescue Chief Vic Pennington says the site recognizes that we are all in this together.

"We are all a part of the first responder family and we need to take of our family so that we can take care of the community that we serve. It's really important that we have a healthy workforce," said Pennington.