Lewis County Sirens.com

Toledo-area mobile home is fully engulfed in flames when crews arrive. / Courtesy photo by Nathan Summers

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The cause of a blaze last night outside Toledo that destroyed an unoccupied residence is under investigation.

Lewis County Fire District 2 was called at 8:48 p.m. to the 1500 block of state Route 505, about a half mile east of town.

Arriving firefighters found flames coming from three sides of the older double-wide mobile home, according to Capt. Tracy Summers.

Nobody was hurt, Summers said.

Crews were assisted by fire departments from Winlock, Vader-Ryderwood and Toutle. It was extinguished in about 45 minutes, Summers said.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office responded as well, because a person was seen walking west on state Route 505 shortly after the fire was reported.

Chief Criminal Deputy Stacy Brown said an eviction notice was posted on the home on Jan. 15.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A nephew of Emmett Robert Nesteby, whose cremated remains were found at a Centralia recycling business, picked up his three family members’ remains yesterday but it’s still a mystery how they ended up where they did.

The ashes of three individuals were discovered at Hand ‘n Hand recycling last October and turned over to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.

They were tucked inside the hollow space of what looked like it was a pedestal base for a sun dial or bird bath.

Coroner Warren McLeod said his staff tried to track down relatives, using funeral home labels attached to the three plastic bags. On Friday, McLeod asked the news media to publicize the names.

TV news reporters found the nephew in Walla Walla before the weekend began.

McLeod said the pedestal turned out to be a product distributed by funeral homes especially made to hold cremated remains. It’s something one might place in a garden.

The nephew traveled to Chehalis yesterday and was extremely grateful for those who returned the remains, McLeod said.

“He wasn’t sure which relative may have had them,” McLeod said.

Nesteby, 76 when he died 13 years ago, is the father of Wayne Nesteby, who was 43, when he died in 1997, according to McLeod. Marjorie Boyer, age 77 when she died in 2004, is the mother, he said.

The senior Nesteby was a decorated WWII veteran, and a memorial with full military honors is on the horizon, according to McLeod.

The coroner hypothesized the pedestal was inadvertently discarded by someone, at some point who probably didn’t know what it held.

The deceased were cremated in Oregon and Arizona, according to the labels.

The coroner’s office had learned of a daughter, Kathleen Colley, who more than a dozen years ago had an Oregon address and phone number. That’s where they hit the dead end.

McLeod said he has now learned Colley lived in Packwood but is dead also. She and her husband lost their property there last year to foreclosure, he said.

It still doesn’t answer the question of how the three ended up at a Centralia recycler though.

“The main thing is, we got them back to their family,” he said.

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For background, read “News brief: Partial “urn” with cremated remains turns up at local recycler” from Friday March 15, 2013 at 9:54 a.m., here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 40-year-old Centralia man who accidentally sent a bullet through his hand and into his wife’s leg while handling a pistol in the Sunbird Shopping Center parking lot in late February is scheduled to be arraigned next month on a charge of reckless endangerment.

Mark D. Solomon was not arrested, but was summonsed to Chehalis Municipal Court with a letter.

Chehalis Police Department detective Sgt. Gary Wilson at the time said he wanted to let the couple “get fixed up” before reviewing any possible violations of the law.

Officers called the afternoon of Feb. 27 said Solomon had just purchased a new holster and was putting his gun inside it while standing next to his truck. Both were hospitalized; the 35-year-old wife was sent to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for surgery

Wilson said he didn’t see any intent to do harm, but recklessness that could have seriously injured or even killed others that day, whether Solomon’s wife or other individuals in a public parking lot. Wilson issued a criminal citation on March 4.

Reckless endangerment is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail and / or a fine of $10,250.

Just two days after the Chehalis incident, a Vader man handling his 40 caliber handgun at home fired a round through his hand, sending pieces of debris flying that struck his 12-year-old son who was nearby.

None of the injuries were life threatening, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. No charges are being filed from that situation as there was no evidence of a crime, according to the sheriff’s office.

Solomon is scheduled to appear before a judge on April 3, when he can enter his plea.
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For background, read “News brief: Two injured with accidental gunshot at Chehalis store” from Wednesday February 27, 2013, here

Firefighters respond to truck versus semi collision on Interstate 5 at Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A loaded horse trailer broke loose from a truck on Interstate 5 in Centralia today, leading to the pickup swerving and then getting struck by a semi truck.

Troopers and aid called about 12:45 p.m. to the northbound lanes just south of the freeway exit to Harrison Avenue found the Ford pickup truck atop the concrete center barrier facing the wrong direction.

The horse trailer gradually parked itself about 100 yards away against a guard rail on the right shoulder, according to responders.

The passenger had only minor injuries but the driver was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with possible serious injuries, Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Terry Ternan said.

Crews had to cut him out of the vehicle, Ternan said.

The investigating trooper reports the horses were not injured and the cause of the incident was the hitch breaking.

Passenger Flora L. Wood, 64, of Graham, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital. The driver, Donald R. Rackley, 68, of Graham, was airlifted from Providence with possible head and other injuries, according to responders.

The semi-truck driver, 66-year-old Arnold Horath of Tenino, was unhurt, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The hollow portion of what looks like stand for a bird bath contained the cremated remains of three individuals. / Courtesy photo Warren McLeod

Updated at 1:40 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in locating the next-of-kin for three sets of cremated remains found at a Centralia recycling business.

Coroner Warren McLeod suspects they are from the same family and were inadvertently discarded. They were turned in to the coroner in October, who has run into a dead end.

The decedents are: Marjorie Boyer, age 77 when she died on Feb. 4, 2004; Emmett Robert Nesteby, age 76 when he died on Feb. 8, 2000; and Wayne Nesteby, 43, who died on Sept. 26, 1997, according to McLeod.

Th remains were inside three labeled plastic bags inside an ornate ceramic container which looks like a pedestal base to a sun dial or maybe a bird bath, according to McLeod.

The pedestal is light weight, about two and half feet tall and appears to be something one might place in a garden.

Information from a funeral home involved led to the name of a daughter, Kathleen Colley, who 13 years ago had an Oregon address and phone number, according to McLeod.

The labels are from funeral homes in Parker, Arizona; Gresham, Ore. and another city in Oregon, according to McLeod.

If anyone knows Colley or the others, they are asked to contact the coroner’s office at 360-740-1376.

Update at 7:38 p.m.: McLeod says a nephew has been located in Walla Walla and will be coming over on Monday to pick up his family members.

Police say a cell phone video provided them shows mom offering son marijuana from bong. / Courtesy image Centralia Police Department. See Kirotv.com video

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prosecutors charged the Centralia mother accused of giving her toddler a hit from a marijuana water pipe with a crime today, one that could easily give her about five years in prison if she is convicted as charged.

Rachelle L. Braaten, 24, remains in the Lewis County Jail following her arrest on Friday. Prosecutors say an anonymous video provided to police shows her holding a so-called bong while her now 2-year-old son put his mouth near its top, then coughs.

She allegedly told officers it happened four or five months ago.

Braaten is charged with a class B felony, which for a person like Braaten who has no criminal history has a standard sentencing range of 51 to 68 months, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke.

The offense has a long name: delivery of a controlled substance by a person over 18 to a person under 18, domestic violence.

It’s a serious charge, O’Rourke said.

The potential penalty is high because it involves a child, O’Rourke said. The maximum penalty is 10 years and a $20,000 fine.

The mother of two appeared briefly this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

O’Rourke told the judge the little boy is with his paternal grandmother. Both of her sons were taken by Child Protective Services on Friday. No mention was made today of the 5-year-old’s whereabouts.

Judge Nelson Hunt gave Braaten a court appointed defense attorney and scheduled her arraignment for Thursday.

She remains jailed on $20,000 bail.
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For background, read “Prosecutors: Centralia father released, mother faces possible charge for alleged bong-smoking baby” from Monday March 11, 2013, here

Courtesy photo by Derek White

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The cause of a Rochester blaze that destroyed a garage and adjoining apartment yesterday is under investigation.

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Lt. Lanette Dyer said crews were called about 3:40 p.m. to the structure on the 10400 block of 184th Avenue Southwest where flames were showing.

The resident, a retired gentleman, was not injured, she said. He did have a motor home in the garage, she said.

Dyer said the building is a total loss. Fire investigators are going out there this afternoon to look into the cause, she said.