Lewis County Sirens.com

North Pearl Street at Reynolds Avenue. / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three children and a woman were injured when a van and dump truck collided in north Centralia this morning.

Firefighters and police were called about 7:30 a.m. to the scene at North Pearl Street and Reynolds Avenue.

The woman was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in serious condition, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

The others were transported to the emergency room, RFA tweeted.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Corner’s Office has gone ahead and entered into a partnership with an organization dedicated to preventing infant deaths due to unsafe sleeping environments.

Coroner Warren McLeod wants to spread the word that the safest way for a baby to sleep is alone, on their backs, in a bare, safety-approved crib.

Thousands of such deaths occur each year across the country, the vast majority are accidental and nearly three-quarters are attributed to bed sharing, according to McLeod.

McLeod said while he saw this type of death many times when he worked in Nevada, he encountered it for the first time in Lewis County this spring, when a 3-month-old girl suffocated sleeping with her mother. It can happen as easily as something as light as a kleenex falling over the mouth and nose, he said.

The coroner’s office is now partnered with Cribs for Kids National Infant Safe Sleep Initiative, headquartered in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

The coroner’s endeavor will include teaching new parents and caregivers about safe sleep practices as well as working to get cribs into the hands of new parents who cannot afford them.

McLeod is making representatives from his office available to speak to civic groups about the initiative and how they can make donations.

Since 1998, Cribs for Kids has been reducing the rate of infant sleep-related deaths by educating parents and by providing portable cribs to families who otherwise cannot afford a safe place for their babies to sleep. All education is based on the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for infant sleep safety.

The cost of a crib, including shipping, is $60.

McLeod’s goal is to raise money to have enough of the portable cribs on hand so that local law enforcement and fire departments can reach out to his office when they come across a parent who can’t afford a safe sleeping environment.

Babies should never sleep on a couch, armchair or soft surface, according to  the American Academy of Pediatrics. And bed sharing remains the greatest risk factor for sleep related infant deaths, the AAP states.

The 2016 updated recommendations on infant sleep safety from AAP draw on new research and include:

• Place the baby on his or her back on a firm sleep surface such as a crib or bassinet with a tight-fitting sheet.

• Avoid use of soft bedding, including crib bumpers, blankets, pillows and soft toys. The crib should be bare.

• Share a bedroom with parents, but not the same sleeping surface, preferably until the baby turns one but at least for the first six months. Room-sharing decreases the risk of SIDS by as much as 50 percent.

• Avoid baby’s exposure to smoke, alcohol and illicit drugs.
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For background, read “Centralia infant exposed to meth smoke died of something different” from Friday July 7, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 58-year-old Chehalis man is listed in serious condition after getting hit by a car that drove up onto the sidewalk outside the Southwest Washington Fair grounds yesterday; its driver suspected to be under the influence of drugs.

Wednesday August 16, 2017

Mike Summer was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following the approximately 12:25 p.m. incident. A hospital spokesperson this morning said Summer’s condition is serious but improving.

Police and firefighters responding to the 1900 block of South Gold Street in Centralia found the pedestrian unconscious but he regained consciousness once medical care began.

The Centralia Police Department says 30-year-old Christian D. Brown was behind the wheel of a 2000 Acura TL and when he was searched, they found heroin.

Brown was arrested for driving under the influence, vehicular assault and possession of heroin, according to police. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

•••

CORRECTION: This has been updated to correctly reflect the age of Mike Summer. His is 58 years old, not 48, but Centralia police initially released the incorrect age.

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For background, read “News brief: Man hit by vehicle near SWW fairgrounds” from Wednesday August 16, 2017, here

Old Highway 99 is shut down for investigation of fatal wreck. / Courtesy photo by Thurston County Sheriff’s Office

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Rochester teenager was killed yesterday when she pulled onto Old Highway 99 and collided with a semi truck in Grand Mound.

It happened about 2:45 p.m. at Sargent Road Southwest, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Kaitlin Darnell, 18, of Rochester, was driving a 2007 Toyota passenger car, according to authorities.

The driver of the red semi tractor is from Rochester as well, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Carla Carter.

The semi had been traveling southbound on Old Highway 99.

Carter said a passenger from the semi was transported to a local hospital with a minor injury.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 40-year-old man was arrested after allegedly firing a gun in a case yesterday evening in which police were asked to check on the well-being of a 4-year-old child at a Chehalis residence.

Nobody was injured by gunfire but officers found the man and a woman were too intoxicated from alcohol to care for the child, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The 33-year-old Chehalis woman was transported to the hospital for reasons the police department would not disclose. Brian Fink, 40, was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

Officers called at 6:54 p.m. to the home on the 300 block of Southwest 15th Street learned Fink had discharged a firearm while at the residence, according to department spokesperson Linda Bailey.

Bailey said she did not know what if anything was struck, or if it happened indoors or outdoors but said police recovered a casing.

The weapon is believed to be a .45 caliber possibly a Glock, but is currently locked in a safe for which police are seeking a search warrant to open, Bailey said.

The child was released to family members, she said.

Fink was arrested for reckless endangerment and for unlawfully discharging a firearm, Bailey said.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A hiker who suffered a leg injury on the Pacific Crest Trail southeast of Packwood was rescued last night, with coordination between the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and King County Sheriff’s Office Guardian One rescue helicopter.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said it happened around 5:50 p.m. about three miles from the Walupt Lake Campground and deputies were dispatched after the activation of an emergency beacon on the trail.

Deputies established a landing zone at the campground, worked to direct the aircraft and contacted the female victim’s hiking companion, according to Breen.

Her hiking partner, a 29-year-old man from Klickitat, said the woman was not mobile but they encountered other hikers who had an emergency beacon they could use, according to Breen.

Breen said the helicopter ended up retrieving the 27-year-old Goldendale woman from the trail and flew her into the Packwood airport. She was transported by ambulance to Morton General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, he said.

The sheriff’s office transported the male hiker to be reunited with the victim and helped arrange transportation for the pair, he said.