Lewis County Sirens.com

First Responder’s Day 2016. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – If you plan to attend opening day tomorrow at the Southwest Washington Fair, you’ll find an opportunity to meet many different first responders who serve the public in Lewis County, all in one place.

You’ll find them around the Old Town Firehouse at the northeast corner of the grounds. It’s the area just north of the lawn for the Saloon Stage. Gates open at 10 a.m.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with local emergency responders, will be hosting a First Responder’s Day.

Lewis County Fire District 5 Lt. Laura Hanson said her department is bringing their photo booth.

“The kids love it, they absolutely love it,” Hanson said.

The firehouse has been updated with new things for children, she said.

There will be response vehicles, booths, displays and interactive demonstrations throughout the event, according to the sheriff’s office.

Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza says he hopes community members come out, see them and have fun.

“They will be able to see the equipment, ask questions, and interact with the people and agencies that make Lewis County a safer place to live,” Snaza stated in a press release.

The following agencies plan to be present during the event:

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Centralia, Chehalis, Napavine, Toledo, Morton, and Pe Ell Police Departments, Washington State Patrol, Lewis County Dispatch, American Red Cross – Lewis County Chapter, Search and Rescue with Cascade Dogs, multiple fire districts, Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office and the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The man struck and killed by a freight train in Tenino last Friday was actually 29 years old, not 30 as originally reported by authorities.

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The death of Dylan B. James, 29, of Tacoma, was determined to be an accident, according to the Thurston County Coroner’s Office.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said it happened approximately 5 p.m. on Aug. 4 near the 16800 block of Old Highway 99, about a half mile south of Tenino.

Authorities said the southbound locomotive had been blowing its horn and went into emergency braking but the pedestrian was slow to respond, and was unable to clear the tracks.
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For background, read “News brief: Train hits man on tracks in Tenino” from Saturday August 5, 2017, here

McDuff Road is shut down yesterday evening while collision is investigated. / Courtesy photo by Thurston County Sheriff’s Office

Updated at 12:12 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 66-year-old man is dead after a two-vehicle crash yesterday along the 15000 block of McDuff Road just north of Tenino and the other driver has been arrested.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reports a pickup truck with an impaired driver behind the wheel was headed northbound and crossed the centerline, striking an oncoming sedan.

The driver of the sedan, a 66-year-old man from Tenino, died as a result of the collision, according to the sheriff’s office. He is identified as Eldon G. McLean, by the Thurston County Coroner’s Office.

Responders called just after 5 p.m. closed the road for the investigation, according to the sheriff’s office. There were no other occupants of the vehicles, according to sheriff’s Sg. Carla Carter.

Following a preliminary investigation, the pickup driver, Keith Milligan, 57, from Tenino, was arrested and booked into the Thurston County Jail for vehicular homicide, according to Carter.

Updated at 3:53 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 68-year-old woman and a teenage girl from Winlock were airlifted after a head-on collision last night in Chehalis.

Police and firefighters called about 9:08 p.m. to the scene on Northwest Louisiana Avenue just south of West Street found the driver of the other vehicle had fled, according to authorities.

Chehalis Police Department spokesperson Linda Bailey describes the victims’ injuries as serious. The Chehalis Fire Department says they were flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The passenger is 15 years old, according to Bailey.

The Washington State Patrol is assisting with the investigation.

As of about 2:30 p.m. today, the older woman’s condition was stable and the girl had already been released from the hospital, according to Bailey.

Their names were not released, but they had been traveling in a white 1994 Geo Metro. The suspect was driving a red 2005 Saturn Ion, according to Bailey.

The fire department said he had airbags, the women did not.

Police are looking for information about the suspect. He is described as heavy set, about 30 years old and about 5-feet 10-inches tall. Bailey said he wore a tight-fade type of haircut.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Chehalis Police Department at 360-748-8605.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Firefighters and police spent as much as three hours last night retrieving a man who got caught by darkness walking Olequa Creek in Winlock.

Firefighters were called about 11:20 p.m. to assist law enforcement in locating a person who was unable to get out of the woods and had made a small signal fire, according to Lewis County Fire District 15.

He had been on Tennessee Road and was walking the creek and it got dark, Firefighter Patrick Jacobson said. The man, in his 40s, didn’t have a flashlight with him.

The area was northwest of the bridge near the 1400 block of Kerron Street, according to Jacobson.

Four fire department personnel and two police officers took part in the effort.

“We went into the woods just north of the bridge, hiked up and around and came back down to him,” Jacobson said. “We were able to walk him out the way he came in.”

The terrain was such, the rescuers couldn’t always see the small fire the man had lit, so Toledo Police Department Sgt. Sam Patrick launched a drone and hovered it above the man’s location, Jacobson said.

“We were able to see the drone, and use that for a visual reference,” he said.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia resident in his mid- to late- 20s suffered a life-threatening laceration when he reportedly punched a plate glass window downtown last night.

Centralia police had been breaking up a dispute involving dozens of people behind the two bars on South Tower Avenue when they heard the sound of glass breaking just to the north, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Police Sgt. Kurt Reichert said he understood the man cut an artery, an officer put a tourniquet on his arm and medics came.

It happened on the 100 block of North Tower Avenue at Nyholm’s appliance store, just before 1:30 a.m., Reichert said.

The patient was transported to the hospital by ambulance, according to police. Further details weren’t readily available.

Reichert said nobody was arrested at the bar fight and he didn’t know what it or the laceration victim’s upset was about.

“I would hazard a guess, alcohol was involved,” he said.