Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A motorist escaped serious injury when she struck an elk on Interstate 5 in Chehalis early this morning.

Three elk were trying to cross the freeway near the 13th Street exit when a northbound passenger car hit one of them, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Troopers and aid called about 4:30 a.m. found the Longview woman had just minor cuts to her head and hand. Kelly Reser, 36, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital.

“I guess those three elk have been hanging out in the area,” Chehalis Firefighter Derek Pedersen said. “Now there’s only two.”

The impact caved in the windshield of her car, which troopers described as totaled.

Trooper Jerry Kuzminsky said they commonly see elk farther south near exit 63, but recently a trooper spotted one near the Chehalis Wal-Mart interchange.

“It’s getting to be a bigger problem,” he said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The state Department of Transportation closed the state Route 508 South Fork Newaukum Bridge to all traffic this afternoon when a routine inspection found significant corrosion on the bridge girders.

The highway will be closed there for emergency repairs until further notice, according to DOT.

Drivers should use U.S. Highway 12 to get to their destinations, DOT spokesperson Abbi Russell said.

The bridge is five miles east of Onalaska, just east of Centralia-Alpha Road.

There is no estimated timeframe yet for the repairs, according to Russell.

Eastbound traffic can take Leonard Road to U.S. Highway 12. Westbound traffic can take Cinebar Road to Silver Creek Road (state Route 122) to U.S. Highway 12.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 50-year-old Tenino-area man is jailed after he allegedly threatened to kill his wife and daughter and then set the family home afire last night.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said the couple were at their residence on the 18500 block of Johnson Creek Road arguing about their relationship and when the dispute escalated, the woman and her 22-year-old daughter left, heading into Tenino to call 911.

Deputies went to the house and found it burning, but the husband had left, sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said.

Firefighters called about 11:25 p.m. extinguished the blaze, but not before it had done an estimated $120,000 damage to the wood frame home, according to authorities.

Nobody was injured.

The sheriff’s office thinks he dumped gasoline on the place and lit it, Elwin said.

The suspect, Donald A. Puckett, was subsequently pulled over in the Nisqually area east of Lacey and arrested for first-degree arson, Elwin said. He was booked into the Thurston County Jail.

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two men were hospitalized after they were injured by a plate on a rock crushing unit at the new Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers site in Winlock this afternoon.

The piece of heavy equipment was just purchased by a private company at auction, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

Firefighters were called around 1 p.m. to the 200 block of Ritchie Lane, north of Avery Road.

Fire Lt. Laura Hanson said in a news release the full extent of their injuries is unknown; the men were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital.

Hanson said only they were working on the unit when they were injured by a large metal plate which fell. She said it was 400 pounds of three-quarter-inch steel.

Members of Lewis County Fire Districts 15, 6 and Lewis County Medic One assisted with the call. District 6 Chief Tim Kinder said the piece of equipment was on a trailer and the pair were disassembling it.

One of the men fell about 15 feet from atop the rock crusher and the other man was struck by the plate, Kinder said.

The injured, whose names were not released, are both in their mid-50’s, according to Hanson.

They are employed by South Bay Excavating of Olympia, according to a spokesperson for Labor and Industries. L and I is investigating the incident, spokesperson Elaine Fischer said.

Updated at 1 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Rochester man was arrested for attempted second-degree murder as well as second-degree assault on Saturday night after he allegedly tried to strangle a 28-year-old woman and then slammed another woman’s head into a wall, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Fred Carpenter, 32, was booked into the Thurston County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

It began as an argument at Carpenter’s home on the 18500 block of Vylan Lane Southwest and escalated into Carpenter threatening to kill the 28-year-old visitor and then attacking his 34-year-old female roommate when she tried to intervene, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Clark.

Carpenter allegedly grabbed her by the throat and pushed her head into the wall.

Deputies called about 9:20 p.m. ended up using a Taser and pepper spray on the suspect before taking him into custody, according to Clark.

The sergeant said he didn’t know what the argument was about.

The 28-year-old, whose name was not released, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital for treatment of her injuries, Clark said.
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CORRECTION: This news story has been updated to reflect the two women were not mother and grown daughter as initially erroneously reported by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Authorities are investigating a suspected arson that occurred in north Centralia last night.

Firefighters called at 9:55 p.m. to the 300 block of Kearney Street found a 30-foot travel trailer fully involved in flames at the back of the fenced property, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

The fire was threatening adjacent houses and another trailer, but they managed to put it out before it spread, according to Fire Chief Jim Walkowski.

Nobody was hurt and nobody was inside it when it happened, but police are looking for the individual who used to live in the trailer, according to authorities.

He is a person of interest, Centralia Police Department Sgt. Brian Warren said this morning.

Walkowski described the damage as significant.

The cause is under investigation by the police and fire department Joint Fire Investigation Team, according to the chief.