Lewis County Sirens.com

Smoke rises from hillside across from Mineral Lake. /Courtesy photo by Moira J. Thomas-Fisk McCreery

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Some 55 personnel worked the Mineral area wildfire today which has made its way into mature timber but a couple days of work still remain, according to a spokesperson from the state Department of Natural Resources.

At mid-day, the scorched area was measured at about six acres and the fire 25 percent contained, spokesperson Nick Cronquist of DNR said.

Lewis County Fire District 9 Chief Kevin Mounce said it was about 6 p.m. on Sunday when he looked out a window and saw smoke rising from just to the northwest of the Mineral Lake Lodge, in a clearcut on private property.

Carolyn McKelvie who owns and operates the lodge said it was about that same time she smelled smoke and checked every room in her building.

“My guests had just had a wedding and were down at the lake,” McKelvie said. “They saw flames and came running up the hill.”

The lodge is on the 100 block of Mineral Hill Road across the street from the lake.

The fire came less than a quarter mile from her place but crews have built a large fire break to protect it, McKelvie said today.

Mounce called upon fellow fire departments in Glenoma and Morton to assist and then DNR arrived about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. He turned the scene over to the state agency, he said.

DNR dealt with the fire overnight and yesterday morning it flared up and grew, he said.

“The winds came up around 9:30 or 10 and it started taking off on us then,” Mounce said.

DNR brought in two helicopters yesterday which dropped water on the flames for much of the day, according to Mounce. The terrain is described as very steep.

Today, DNR utilized three hand crews, three engines and a dozer, according to Cronquist. The helicopters remain on standby.

This afternoon, Cronquist characterized the spread potential as very low.

Two helicopters use water from Mineral Lake to suppress fire across the road on Monday. / Courtesy photo by Carolyn McKelvie

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters are actively working a fire this morning that ignited off Mineral Hill Road in Mineral yesterday.

Personnel from the state Department of Natural Resources were called about 6 p.m. to the scene, where it was slowly creeping up a timbered slope, according to a DNR spokesperson.

Last night they continued to mop up and they are out there again today, spokesperson Janet Pierce said. It was estimated at 2.8 acres, she said.

A DNR dispatcher in Castle Rock this morning said it started in a clearcut on mostly flat ground, but firefighters are working also on a pretty steep incline. She said she didn’t have a “size up” yet this morning.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – It will probably take a week or so before a new fire chief will be decided upon for the city of Chehalis after tomorrow’s day of interviewing the three finalists, according to Chehalis City Manager Merlin MacReynold.

Jeff Larson

The change comes almost six months after the departure of halftime chief, Jim Walkowski who was also head of neighboring Riverside Fire Authority in Centralia but moved to Spokane County to take a new job. Capt. Rob Gebhart is serving as interim chief.

MacReynold said the city interviewed about a half dozen candidates and any one of the three remaining could do the job.

“But what’s important is they’re a good fit for the community,” MacReynold said.

Joseph Sands

Which is why tomorrow each will be interviewed by four different panels and then by MacReynold. Then at 4:30 p.m., the city council and the public will get to meet them, he said.

“At the council meeting, we’ll have them get up and talk about their experience and why they’re interested in coming to Chehalis,” he said.

The pay is in the high $80,000s per year, according to MacReynold. The Chehalis Fire Department has 14 employees.

The three men are:

Gary Woodson

• Jeff Larson, who for the past 13 years has been fire suppression battalion chief with the city of Lodi, California. Involved in the fire service almost 30 years.

• Joseph Sands is an engineer-paramedic in Billings, Montana, serving previously in several locations in positions that have included assistant chief and interim chief. Has more than 22 years experience of emergency service.

• Gary Woodson, former fire chief for Pendleton, Ore. Fire and Ambulance Department where he started in 2010. Involved in the fire service since 1974.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – There will be no trial as to whether former Mossyrock resident Ricky Riffe sexually abused his 9-year-old step-daughter in the mid-1980s.

It was scheduled to start next week, but instead he is expected in court tomorrow to plead guilty to something less than originally charged, as part of a plea deal.

Ricky Riffe

Riffe, 55, was sentenced last year to nearly 103 years in prison, following a lengthy trial and his conviction in the 1985 kidnapping, robbery and shotgun deaths of an elderly Ethel couple, Ed and Minnie Maurin.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer confirmed this afternoon that a change of plea hearing will take place tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in Lewis County Superior Court, but declined to say more.

Riffe’s Seattle-based defense attorney John Crowley confirmed he and prosecutors made a deal.

Riffe was arrested in the summer of 2012 in the Maurin homicides and brought to Lewis County from his home in Alaska. The following February, prosecutors charged him with what was then called statutory rape as well as indecent liberties, saying new information came to light.

He appeared in court briefly a week ago, as lawyers talked about a defense motion to move the child sex abuse trial to another locale, with Crowley contending his client would not face an impartial jury in Lewis County.

Crowley said late this afternoon the plan is Riffe will plead guilty to one count of indecent liberties, an offense that would have a standard sentencing range of around five years in prison. He also declined to say more.
•••

For background, read:

• “Attorneys dispute statute of limitations rules on surprise child sex charge for Maurin double murder defendant” from Saturday February 23, 2013, here

• “Riffe maintains innocence in face of sentence of more than a century for Maurin murders” from Tuesday December 3, 2013, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Chehalis woman and three children were hospitalized after their car was struck by a semi truck changing lanes on northbound Interstate 5 near Napavine last night.

It happened just before 9 p.m. near the exit 72 interchange and the Honda Accord came to rest striking the center barrier, according to the Washington State Patrol. The big rig continued on without stopping, according to the state patrol.

Transported to Providence Centralia Hospital were Finola B. Erickson, 30, a 1-year-old baby girl and two boys, ages 4 and 8, the investigating trooper reports.

Lewis County Fire District 5 Chief Gregg Peterson said he understands the injuries were minor; everyone was reportedly belted in.

All were discharged from the hospital last night, according to a state patrol spokesperson.

Gone is the bushy beard and long hair Ricky Riffe seemed to have begun cultivating once he was convicted last December.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Ricky A. Riffe appeared just very briefly in Lewis County Superior Court today, as lawyers prepare for a second trial in two years for the former Mossyrock man.

Riffe, 55, was charged last year with sexually abusing  his 9-year-old step-daughter in the mid-1980s, as he awaited trial for the 1985 kidnapping, robbery and shotgun deaths of an elderly Ethel couple.

He was convicted and sent to prison for nearly 103 years.

Defense attorney John Crowley filed a motion asking the trial get moved, saying his client would not face an impartial jury in Lewis County given inflammatory publicity beginning after his arrest in the notorious unsolved old case.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told Judge James Lawler this afternoon he opposed the motion, saying the issue is “not ripe.” A legal term, Meyer said, meaning premature.

“You don’t know that until you get your jury pool,” Meyer said.

Crowley told the judge he agreed and the parties concluded the question about a change of venue could be dealt with before, but during the same week as the trial.

The trial is scheduled for the week of Sept. 8.