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Biohazard CleanupYakima

When someone dies at home in Yakima County

If you are reading this soon after finding someone, take it one step at a time. Most of these steps other people do for you.

  1. Call 911

    Even if it is clear the person has died. The dispatcher will send police and medical responders and tell you what to do while you wait.

  2. Don't move the person

    When a death is sudden or unexplained, the person is in the coroner's care under Washington law (RCW 68.50.010). Moving them without the coroner's permission is a crime (RCW 68.50.050).

  3. Police and the coroner come

    Officers secure the scene. The Yakima County Coroner's office investigates sudden, unexpected and violent deaths. If the person was under hospice care, the hospice usually guides the family instead.

  4. Choose a funeral home

    You can do this the same day or the next. Tell the coroner's office which one; the funeral home arranges to collect the person when the coroner releases them.

  5. Ask for the case number

    Write down the police case number and the name of the coroner's investigator. You will need them more than once.

  6. Deal with the room later

    Once the home is released, close the door. Call about the cleanup when you are ready, today or next week.

Numbers to keep

Yakima County Coroner

The Yakima County Coroner is at 128 N 2nd Street in Yakima, phone (509) 574-1610.

Yakima Police, non-emergency

(509) 575-6200, for follow-up questions inside the city.

Sheriff's Office, non-emergency

(509) 574-2500, ext. 0, for addresses outside city limits.

988 Lifeline

Call or text 988 (988lifeline.org) if the grief becomes too much, at any hour.

If your family has religious customs

Some faiths ask for burial within a short time, or for the body to be handled in a particular way. Tell the coroner's staff as early as you can. Washington law tells the coroner to consider the person's religious beliefs, customs and rites when deciding whether to keep them (RCW 68.50.050).

Yakima and the valley around it

Nobody in the family has to clean this

An independent cleanup company can take it from here once the police and the coroner are done. Asking questions on the phone commits you to nothing.

When you are ready to talk

Say what happened, where it is and who owns the property. The company explains what it would do. You decide whether to go ahead.

Call (509) 555-0106

Phones staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Calls may be recorded. Read the referral disclosure and the privacy policy.

Call (509) 555-0106