It was a busy Fourth of July holiday weekend for fire crews across Clallam County as they responded to numerous fires and fire-related incidents.

The most significant incident occurred early Sunday morning, when a large fire that sent plumes of black smoke into the sky broke out in the metal recycling section of the Port Angeles Transfer Station at 5:21 am.  Port Angeles Fire Department (PAFD) units responded to reports of smoke in the area of West 18th Street. Multiple callers quickly confirmed a large column of black smoke rising from the landfill.

Crews arrived to find a fire engulfing a 200-by-25-foot area filled with discarded appliances and scrap metal. Flames reached approximately 50 feet in height. Additional engines and personnel from Clallam County Fire Districts 2 and 3 joined the response, along with heavy equipment operators from the City Landfill, who helped sift through debris. Firefighters spent over five hours on scene and used an estimated 60,000 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze. No injuries were reported, and the cause remains undetermined.

Meanwhile, Clallam County Fire District 3 (CCFD3) logged an intense 48-hour period from Friday morning through Sunday morning, responding to 65 calls for service including 6 wildland fires caused by fireworks with the cause of two others under investigation. In addition, District 3 firefighters responded to 2 structure fires, 1 traffic crash, 4 smoke investigations and burn complaints, and 50 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls.

Fire Chief Justin Grider says there were no reported injuries to people or pets during the weekend incidents.  He says that would not have been possible without the relentless efforts of our Fire District 3 staff and with the invaluable support of our Volunteer Firefighters, who showed classic dedication when demand peaked.

Photo: City of Port Angeles Fire Department

Clallam County’s law enforcement community raised over $5,000 during this week’s annual Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch run, earning the top fundraising spot among all law enforcement agencies in the state of Washington. 

Celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the event, volunteers from law enforcement agencies, corrections and public safety agencies carried the Flame of Hope across a 37-mile course from Laird’s Corner west of Port Angeles to 7 Cedars Resort Wednesday. The event concluded with a celebration and Fundraising Finale at 7 Cedars where Special Olympics athletes and community members gathered to honor inclusion, unity and athletic spirit.  Clallam County Sheriff Brian King said, “We are incredibly proud of the compassion, generosity, and teamwork demonstrated by our community. Thanks to the tireless effort of so many, we were able to bring visibility and support to Special Olympics athletes while also highlighting the strength of our partnerships here in Clallam County.”

The Fundraising Finale at 7 Cedars Resort included a $1,000 donation from the resort and use of its facilities. The event included an opportunity dunk Sheriff King, Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith, Sequim  Police Chief Mike Hill and members of the Port Angeles Lefties baseball team by Clallam County Orcas Special Olympians.

The Special Olympics games are being held in Tacoma and Federal Way today through Sunday.

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PHOTO: Jesse Major photography

The teenager who fell to his death over the Sol Duc River waterfall June 8 had been traveling with a friend seeking to visit seven national parks on a post-graduation trip after graduating from high school. Eyewitnesses said 18-year-old Grant Herridge fell over the 50-foot waterfall after slipping while he was attempting to walk across rocks at the top. Olympic National Park officials say rescuers have been unable to recover his body since the accident due to unsafe conditions due to high river flows from snow melt. Recovery efforts will resume once conditions are safe. 

The teen’s father, Brad Herridge, a pastor at Ocker Brethren Church in Bell County Texas, said his son was always full of life and “loved doing exciting, fun things.”  He lived without anxiety and lived life to its fullest.”  He says Grant wore a ring for several years with an inscription inside that says, “While we wait for life, life passes.”

In a statement posted on Facebook, Grant Herridge’s former school, Vanguard College Preparatory said, “We love you, Grant.  You were a bright light and a true lighthouse in the Viking community, guiding others with kindness, joy, fun and unwavering faith and inclusivity.  Whether in the classroom, on the golf course, or in the halls, your light drew people in and made them feel seen, valued and welcome.  The students, faculty, staff and coaches are all better because of you.”

Photo: Facebook

A Sequim man who barricaded himself in a home in Carlsborg and fired numerous shots at law enforcement was arrested yesterday during an incident that forced the lock-down of Greywolf Elementary School and the evacuation of nearby neighbors for safety.

The incident began at 8:04 am Tuesday as Deputies responded to a home in the 200 block of Village Lane for a report of a man banging on windows in a residence in the area, saying he was the Messiah and had guns and ammunition, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. 

The man, identified as 37-year-old Justin Cox, was known to law enforcement from multiple prior encounters. When Deputies arrived they contacted him at the residence as he was rambling and yelling about being the “Messiah.”  He refused to come out and talk to deputies.  Another man at the house said he believed he could calm Cox down. 

However, Cox suddenly produced an AK-47 style rifle threatening to shoot law enforcement from inside the home.  A perimeter was formed around the residence and Deputies began evacuating nearby residents for safety.

The Peninsula Crisis Response Team and crisis negotiators responded to the scene with two armored vehicles and began negotiations. They told him over a loudspeaker he was under arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm was given instructions to safely surrender.

Shortly after 11 am, he began firing shots through the front door of the home, striking one of the armored vehicles and a neighboring house.  Crisis Response Team members were inside the armored vehicle when it was struck by bullets.  It’s estimated as many as 25-30 rounds were fired towards law enforcement.  Ultimately, the armored vehicle breached a window and chemical munitions were deployed and Cox fled from the back of the home. He was apprehended while running through neighboring property and booked into the Clallam County jail where he is being held on charges of first and second degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

The City of Sequim has added a new employee to its roster – former Police Chief Sheri Crain. She began serving the city once again May 19 as Sequim’s Emergency Management Coordinator.  Crain retired from the police department Feb. 29, 2024 after a 33 year career with the department. She began her career with Sequim Police as the department’s  first full-time police officer in 1991.

The Emergency Management agency of Sequim helps city departments and local partners exercise the city’s plans and processes, whether through training or by responding to unplanned events, such as the 2019 snow storm and Covid-19, according the Sequim City website.  The site says it is equally important that community residents prepare for emergencies as well.  Whether you live, work, shop or go to school in Sequim, all are encouraged to be prepared for disastrous situations.

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Agnew accessibility advocate Ian Mackay is known in the community for his extraordinary achievements riding his wheelchair across the state and other long distances, and finding great joy as he has developed a life promoting outdoor accessibility and inspiration for others challenged with mobility issues.  A new book “Ian’s Ride: A Long Distance Journey to Joy” describing Ian’s life transformation after great tragedy left him paralyzed from the neck down was released Tuesday, April 1. 

 Ian explained to Sassy Susan on KSQM Monday the book is about his transformation from years of depression after a bicycle crash rendered him a quadriplegic in 2008, to today and all the support he’s had along the way.

“What this is about is my journey back from tragedy and the only way I’m here today is because of my incredible family network that I have that picked me up and kept me moving forward.  And no matter how much I may have wanted to throw in the towel in the early days. And so I’m super lucky to have this incredible family.  And my mom has a huge voice in the book.

His mother, Tina Woodworth, kept a detailed dairy during those first years after the bicycle crash, an invaluable source of information for writer Karen Polinsky as she pieced together Ian’s story. 

“Basically she drank the ocean. She took in all this information and then she needed to distill it down to the story that she really chose to write. And then Ian and I would read, and then we’d tell her, no, no, that’s…and it’s like no good and we went back and forth many times. And it’s so honest and it’s so raw. And Ian and read this book and I don’t know how many times – dozens maybe. And every time I still cry. Every time it still brings me back to some really painful times.”

Since then Ian says he has found great joy in riding his chair outdoors every day he can.  He founded the Ian’s Ride non-profit organization to help spread the word.  

“That’s where I found my solace, was getting outside and getting to have some independence in finding a local pathway. Where it blew up is getting to talk with others about how special it was about those benefits and seeing how almost addictive that can be.”

 “Ian’s Ride: A Long Distance Journey to Joy” is now available through "iansride.com" and Amazon in paperback and audio book.  Proceeds from all sales benefit the Ian’s Ride non-profit.

Photo: from Iansride.com

The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is adding a first of its kind specialized K9 therapy team to its law enforcement Chaplaincy program. Chaplain K9 Scout and her handler Chaplain Kathi Gregoire are currently in training to serve as therapy dog team as an additional resource for the sheriff’s office. Scout is a four-year-old mix of various working dog breeds. 

“She is a therapy dog in training and I am her handler. And we’re being trained together that can be utilized through my typical chaplain rounds that I do to the Sheriff’s Office, the State Patrol, other law enforcement agencies, dispatch, which is PenCom, Washington State Patrol radio within the district that I serve and bringing that benefit to them.”

Chaplains provide emotional and spiritual support to law enforcement daily, as well as citizens in the community when there has been a traumatic event. Animals have long been known to ease tension, lower blood pressure, and provide companionship. Chaplain Kathi says she became aware of Scout’s sensitivity when she was very young.

“She has the kind of the un-definable, un-trainable but natural “it.”  She knows how to take care of people as a therapy dog.  You can’t train that in. And she showed that to me and surprised the living daylights out of me to kind of stumble into a situation. And I watched her to kind of work the room, introduce herself to everybody. She wasn’t even three months old yet. And then she settled on a person that had experienced a really traumatic event. And it’s like she just kind of settled on this individual and said, ‘Kathi I’m going to stay with her a while, I’m going to take care of this one. I need to pay attention to that. There’s something unique about this dog”


Chaplain Kathi and Chaplain K9 Scout will be tested and certified with Therapy Dog International and will continue advance training with Canyon Crest K9 Training Center in Tacoma. They have passed the first level of training. For now, she does not take Scout with her on 911 call outs.

“I don’t take her with me on those. Those are much more intense. They’re much more fluid. I could be called out for what we would consider an unattended death when somebody dies unexpectedly. But it could take a turn, there needs to be an investigation. And it can escalate. Families emotions are escalated. We’re not trained as a team yet to be able to work in that environment.”


Once their training advances sufficiently she hopefully will be able take Scout with her on 911 call outs, but she would stay in her vehicle until an appropriate time.


Photo: Clallam County Sheriff’s Office

Former Port Angeles Mayor Cheri Kidd is still aglow after being crowned  2025 Ms Senior World in a pageant in Biloxi, Mississippi Nov. 15th. According to the event’s website, the competition is the premier pageant for Senior women that brings women aged 50-79 together to boost confidence, have fun, make new friends and allow them an outlet to share platform issues that are import to them the other delegates and the world. Kidd took first place in the category of women in their 70s.

 In previous pageants she won first runner up in the Ms Senior USA competition in Las Vegas before coming back and winning the 2020 and 2021 crown.

 “I guess I’m a girl who is always looking for a new challenge.I’m finding that I’ve been, I have more first runner up plaques than anybody I have ever met. But that is an indication that you’re almost there, you can do it. Just persevere. Don’t quit now."

 Appearing with Sassy Susan on KSQM radio earlier this week she talked about where her journey in the world of senior beauty pageants has taken her.

 “Being the Senior USA, that opened doors for me and I met people, and had new experiences and went places I never would have. It was absolutely amazing.  Like last year I modeled in New York – well this year and last year I modeled in New York’s Fashion Week. OK. I’m not twenty. I never thought I would have that opportunity. And it was fabulous.”

 She’s been featured on a Times Square billboard, in four fashion magazines, including the cover of two of them, and has been contracted to appear in this year’s Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.

 “The whole point of Senior World is to let women know that your age doesn’t define you. It’s your energy. It’s you passion. And the fact that you’re older gives us experience and wisdom and that’s our power. And so I’m telling ladies that the rest of your life should be the best of your life. Do not let you age stop you from – you need to grow and challenge yourself in new ways. We need go find areas that we can excel and we need to encourage ourselves to do that.”

 During the discussion with Sassy Susan, her cell phone rang a number of times, including once from someone she said who  was calling for another interview.

 Photo: 2025 Ms Senior World Pageant

Listeners to KZQM radio in Sequim might occasionally confuse it with the other radio station in Sequim, KSQM.  KZQM is not the same as KSQM, Sequim’s non-commercial educational, listener supported, all volunteer radio station. KZQM does not play the same kind of music as KSQM, what we like to call the home of the best music ever made. KZQM is operated by Radio Pacific, which also owns KONP and KSTI.  KSQM is owned and operated by Sequim Community Broadcasting, a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation. So it might be understandable there could be a bit of confusion between the two.

That confusion is coming to an end.  Brown Maloney, the owner of KZQM says effective this week, the station’s call letters have changed to KZEG. He says in a news release, “For some time, there has been confusion by having similar call letters as Sequim’s radio station KSQM 91.5 FM.  Therefore,” he says, “it was my decision that changing the call letters would be beneficial to both stations.“

Three Sequim police officers were presented with life saving awards during Monday’s City Council meeting for their roles in saving a man who had been struck by a hit and run pickup truck on Highway 101 east of Sequim earlier this month.  Witnesses said the man, identified as 66-year-old Lawrence Sherer of Mukilteo had been fighting with another man on the Highway near the “Welcome to Sequim” elk sign at Simdars Road around 11 pm October 8.

Officers Devin McBride, Ella Mildon and Chris Moon were the first to arrive. Sequim Deputy Mayor Rachel Anderson read from the proclamation:

“Officer Mildon arrived first and observed a female doing chest compressions on a male in the middle of the highway. She immediately checked for a pulse and started life saving measures.  As other officers and sheriff’s deputies arrived, they took over chest compressions. Officer Mildon retrieved her AED and handed it off to Officer McBride while officer Moon and others continued CPR. Officers and Deputies continued life saving measures for approximates seven minutes until EMS staff arrived on scene and took over patient care.”

Sherer was airlifted on a Life Flight helicopter to Seattle’s Harborview Hospital in what a State Patrol spokesperson was in “Very Critical” condition.

Police Chief Mike Hill:

“I do think it’s important to recognize officers for saving human life because there’s no way you can put a value on that. So the recognition that they receive for an invaluable service is well deserved.  As you can imagine when they showed up on scene on October 8th it was chaotic and violent. And that’s an understatement based on what we saw and what the investigation revealed. But these three immediately went to work on what their number one priority was and that saving someone’s life.”

The second person involved in the fight on the Highway is not know.  He go into his vehicle and sped away.  The driver of the hit and run pickup turned herself in at the Clallam County courthouse the next morning.