The night of January 16, 2011, was a terrible night for employees of Washington State Department of Transportation Northwest Area 5. Billy Rhynalds, a 12-year veteran who worked out of the Preston Shed was killed by a falling tree on SR 203 south of Carnation during a massive wind and rain storm.
The evening storm in east King County kicked up the wind and the rain had been falling for hours. Water was over the roadway at Highways 202 and 203. Billy, who usually worked the day shift, was called out to help close roads and clear water. When communications lines fell near Carnation, he went to the area to set up cones to keep traffic moving but protect drivers from the wires. A cottonwood fell and hit Billy and his truck.
Billy came to WSDOT in 1998, late in his work life, after careers with the Washington National Guard and Weyerhaeuser. He enjoyed the variety of jobs with WDSOT maintenance and he loved working out of East King County. He enjoyed the trees. Billy Rhynalds has a large extended family in the area, including brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren. He doted on his grandchildren. At 66, he was in a position to retire, but loved his job and was so well-liked by the rest of his crew. Billy was well-liked, a hard worker willing to do every shift, a true public servant.
He is one of many dedicated men and women working in anonymity, doing dangerous and necessary work. The Give Them A Brake message is very important to the people working on our highways. Can you imagine trying to work with thousand pound missiles whizzing by your desk!
Since 1950, 58 Washington State Department of Transportation employees have lost their lives in work zone-related activities. Recent laws have focus on protecting workers on the roadway
1) Fines doubled in work zone.
2) Emergency Zone violations. The enhanced Emergency Zone law builds on an earlier "move over" law and creates zones around emergency workers, similar to what is established for construction zones. Under the law, the fine will double if you are speeding or fail to move over when passing through the emergency zone.
The cache you are seeking is located near Billy's work Location. It is loaded with Highway Safety goodies. As you hunt and find the cache take an item or two.
This Hide has the permission of the Superintendent
Note: due to the nature of the facility this Cache should not be access at night.