On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee thanked dozens of employees of the Washington Emergency Management Division and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. For the past four years, the agencies have operated a joint field office in Lacey, where they oversaw multiple federally declared disasters and distributed billions of dollars in aid to those who needed it.
The office is closing this week with a smaller crew transitioning back to Camp Murray to continue the work.
“Your achievements have been very significant on the policy perspective,” Inslee told about 60 employees gathered in a conference room and even more listening in via a Teams meeting. “The coordination that has gone out that you’ve led is truly amazing, not just with COVID-19 but multiple disasters."