South Cle Elum, WA Emergency Mobile Kitchen Rentals and Dishwashing Trailers

What past disasters mean for kitchens in South Cle Elum

Since 1964, Kittitas County has been named in 27 FEMA declarations; wildfire (10 declarations) and flooding (8 declarations) lead the list. Cle Elum has a page of its own with the federal declarations for its county, useful when one project crosses the line.

The most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (major disaster declaration, DR-4906), declared April 7, 2026, with the incident beginning December 5, 2025. Floodwater can contaminate kitchen equipment and force closures until cleanup and inspection are finished, which is when replacement cooking, dishwashing and cold storage matter. By incident type, the count is wildfire 10, flooding 8, severe storms 5, coastal storm 1 and earthquake 1. By decade: 1960s 1, 1970s 3, 1980s 1, 1990s 4, 2000s 5, 2010s 10 and 2020s 3. The records also list Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (EM-3629, December 12, 2025), Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds (DR-4584, February 4, 2021), Ryegrass Coulee Fire (FM-5253, July 10, 2018), Jolly Mountain Fire (FM-5200, September 2, 2017) and Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (DR-4249, January 15, 2016).

Ten years of NOAA storm records, 2016 through 2025, show 4 county-based event records for Kittitas County; high-wind and thunderstorm events account for 3 of them, flood events for 1. Storm winds mean outages measured in days in some places, so the generator question belongs in the plan from the start.

The National Interagency Fire Center maps 6 wildfires of 1,000 acres or more that started in Kittitas County since 2016, together covering about 100,483 acres. The largest was the Labor Mountain fire in 2025, at 42,968 acres. Fire weather means planned power cuts as well as fires, and a walk-in cooler does not keep product cold through a long shutoff.

A declaration designates an area for federal assistance; it does not describe damage at any one address.

Construction projects and crew meals near South Cle Elum

USASpending.gov lists 12 federal construction contracts of $500,000 or more with work in Kittitas County since October 2021, worth about $213 million together. USASpending.gov shows a $5.5 million Department of the Interior contract, “Sandelin, Rock Revetment, Cle Elem Reservoir, Washington,” starting August 2021 in Kittitas County (award record). The Department of the Interior committed $2.3 million to “Speelyi Beach Shoreline Protection, Yakima Project, Washington, Bureau of Reclamation C-PN Region” in Kittitas County, awarded September 2026 (award record). Another public record is “Wishpoosh Campground Improvements, Cle Elum Dam and Reservoir, Yakima, WA,” a $1.7 million Department of the Interior contract from June 2020 in Kittitas County (award record). In June 2021, the Department of Agriculture awarded a $1.1 million contract for “GAOA MTN to Sound Greenway Heritage Area Road Improvement Package No 3” in Kittitas County, with work running to July 2023 (award record). Crews on projects like this rarely have a restaurant nearby, which is the case for cooking on site with a rented kitchen and a dishwashing trailer. A project in Ellensburg, about 20,996 residents, would face the same phasing questions about gates, haul roads and pad space.

Major renovation in South Cle Elum

No federal contract for repairing or modernizing a building is on record for Kittitas County. The nearest is in Yakima County, about 46 miles away. In May 2025, the Department of Agriculture awarded a $7.2 million contract for “Air Handler Unit Replacement - Four Units” in Yakima County, with work running to December 2026 (award record). Renovations like this are the usual reason an institution leases a mobile kitchen, because the permanent one cannot run while the work is under way. Kittitas is on the same footing: the old kitchen closes on a date, and the temporary one has to be cooking before it.

Getting emergency equipment into South Cle Elum

Public emergency operations in Washington are coordinated by the Washington Emergency Management Division (EMD), with county emergency managers handling local response. Staging areas and access routes for disaster response are published by those agencies and can change, so this page does not draw a route. For work in Leavenworth, look to the agencies covering Chelan County rather than assuming the same routes.

By CMS's hospital list, the closest to South Cle Elum is Kittitas Valley Community Hospital, a critical access hospital, in Ellensburg, about 23 miles from South Cle Elum in a straight line.

Local rental costs in South Cle Elum

A quote for South Cle Elum is built from the trailer you choose, the length of the rental, delivery distance and the setup the site needs. Starting points: the 24ft Mobile Kitchen from $4,995, the 40ft Bulk Kitchen from $10,995 and the 28ft Mobile Kitchen from $6,995. Prices may vary. A kitchen for Cashmere, 32 miles from here, is built from the same quote, with delivery adjusted for the address.

Starting prices are guides, and prices may vary with location, rental length, delivery, setup and utilities. A written quote states the equipment, the rental period and what is included.