Retired East Pierce Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Dave Wakefield recently received the Washington Association of School Administrators Community Leadership Award. In a ceremony held in Fife, Sumner School District Superintendent Gil Mendoza said Wakefield has made a far-reaching contribution to the safety of the school district’s students today and well into the future.

For more than 10 years, Wakefield has been working with Sumner-area schools, helping them prepare to respond to a variety of natural disasters and hazardous situations including earthquake, lahar, fire, bomb threat and hazardous materials incidents.

He has been instrumental in creating relationships between the District and local law enforcement, state and county agencies and the fire department. According to Wakefield, this type of interagency cooperation is the key to developing a successful and comprehensive plan for emergency response to natural or man-made disasters.

In addition to forty years of experience as an emergency responder, Wakefield has been a long-time leader in both the state and county emergency management response and served as the chief of emergency management at East Pierce Fire and Rescue before retiring last spring.

Under Wakefield’s guidance, the Sumner School District said they have made significant progress in preparing for a disaster. According to District officials, emergency response has improved in two main areas: pre-planning for responses at all school facilities, using the School Threat System – an interactive, on-line web-based school information system – and supporting staff in Incident Command System training and certification in the National Incident Management System.

By practicing appropriate drills and responses, District officials said the faculty and administrators have gained confidence in their ability to lead students in a variety of emergency situations including evacuation and shelter-in-place.

For his part, Wakefield said that he has enjoyed his time with the faculty and administrators. Should an emergency arise, he is confident they will be prepared to handle it effectively.