By Pepper Fisher
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – Sula Jacobs, the Superintendent of Olympic National Park, appeared on KONP’s Todd Ortloff Show Tuesday to update us on the latest news from the park.
When asked about Hurricane Ridge, Jacobs first described what it was like getting the phone call the Day Lodge caught fire in May.
“So, the head of law enforcement called me. I always joke around that you never want to see a law enforcement team member show up on my cell phone on a Saturday or Sunday. They’re wonderful people, but it’s never good news. They’re never calling me to tell me about something happy. And I picked up and I said, ‘Okay, I’m sitting down. What is the news?’ Honestly? It felt like a gut punch. It really was pretty horrible. And even yesterday, when I went up there, it still hits me every time, when I see the the melted metal.”
Jacobs said she and her staff went right to work, coming up with a plan to make the area as safe as possible to get the road back open to visitors.
“And we said, ‘How do we get visitors up there? How do we do it safely? How do we do it in a way that makes sense for what is now happening?’ And we were able to…I mean, I hoped by around July 4th. And they said, ‘We’re going to do this before July 4th. We recognize how big July 4th is for so many of our tourism-related industry in the area.’ And they did it. And, I mean, it hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been great. And they’ve really done a stunning job, and hats off to the team.”
So, what comes next? Jacobs headed off the question about the results of the fire investigation by saying she honestly had no idea what investigators would conclude or when they would announce their findings. In the near term, there’s the question of whether there will be a winter sports season this year.
Jacobs says without a lodge to warm up in, the park won’t be able to offer what we’ve seen in the past. But, she doesn’t want the ridge to be shut down completely this winter, either. Part of what that will look like depends on whether they can get electricity hooked up again.
“It is very cold. It is, right? I mean, let’s talk it through. I mean, it is not a hospitable area to be outside. Especially when it’s windy, that hurts up there. But, it is something that we’re really going to have to be thinking through, because there is some safety stuff we really have to work out. As the investigation goes on, and we’re able to determine more about the utilities, that is very much the linchpin in this. And every week we’re getting a little bit closer. So, we think by the end of this week, we might know a little bit more about electricity, but it could also be next week. And so, that is a wait-and-see.”
Later this week, we’ll pick up the conversation with Supt. Jacobs to talk about the latest on getting Olympic Hot Springs Road open to vehicle traffic following the washouts caused by the removal of two dams 10 years ago.