Lewis County Sirens.com

Firefighters point their hoses at front end loader. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Crews called to a fire at the old Alexander Lumber Mill in Onalaska last night found a front-end loader burning.

The machine operator had been putting sawdust into a large hopper and said he felt heat on his backside, turned around to look and saw flames, according to Lewis County Fire District 1.

Assistant Fire Chief Rhonda Volk said they were joined by a tender from Lewis County Fire District 5.

The call came about 8:10 p.m. to state Route 508, just west of town. The new business at the site works around the clock, Volk said.

The fire was extinguished. The front end loader is a total loss, but nobody was hurt, Volk said.

Volk said they have an idea of what may have caused it, but a fire investigator was looking into it.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  Oral arguments will be heard in September before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle in the case of former Toledo elementary school principal Ron Reynolds who contended the Lewis County coroner had no legal basis for  conducting an inquest into the 1998 death of his then-wife, a former state trooper.

Ron Reynolds

His lawyer called the 2011 proceedings scandalous, leading to severe harm to his client’s reputation and employability.

Reynolds’ and his son Jonathan Reynolds were named by the inquest jury as responsible for the death, which the panel concluded was homicide.

Reynolds lost the federal lawsuit against Coroner Warren McLeod and the county when a federal judge granted a summary judgment two years ago. Reynolds appealed.

McLeod said this morning he plans to attend the 9 a.m. Sept. 1 session, which will be heard by a three-member panel of judges.

Ronda Reynolds, 33, was found with a bullet in her head and covered by a turned-on electric blanket on the floor of a closet in the Toledo home she shared with her husband of less than a year and his three sons.
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For background, read “Lawsuit regarding Ronda Reynolds’ inquest moves to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals” from Friday May 8, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – No victims were found after a search was conducted through the remains of a house that burned yesterday in Centralia.

The vacant single-story house at the end of Alexander Street was fully engulfed in flames when a crew arrived following a 4:19 a.m. call yesterday reporting a tree on fire, according to authorities.

The roof collapsed making access to the interior impossible, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

Fire Chief Mike Kytta indicated yesterday afternoon that once the fire was brought under control, an excavator was brought in to remove debris to facilitate extinguishing the remaining fire.

They accessed the building to search for any victims and found none, according to Kytta. Centralia police have said officers frequently discovered unauthorized individuals inside the house.

The cause of the fire is classified as undetermined and the investigation remains open, according to Kytta.
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For background, read “News brief: Vacant Centralia house burns” from Thursday June 15, 2017, here

Smoke rises from the 1400 block of Alexander Street. / Courtesy photo by Joseph Bonomi

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Centralia police and firefighters responded to a call early this morning to a fire at a vacant single-story house frequented by unauthorized inhabitants.

It was found fully involved in flames and its roof eventually caved into its basement, according to the Centralia Police Department.

The home on the 1400 block of Alexander Street has been boarded up for some time, police Sgt. Kurt Reichert said.

Reichert said it’s a location where patrol officers have frequently found individuals staying there or trying to stay there. It has no electrical service, according to Reichert.

The fire department was not able to get inside and investigators likely won’t be able to either for quite awhile because of the remaining heat, Reichert said.

He said he understood a bull dozer would be brought in and that after materials are moved away, the basement will need to be pumped.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has forwarded a case to prosecutors of second-degree theft in connection with a volunteer firefighter’s alleged misuse of a gas card.

Brady J. Mounce was a volunteer with Lewis County Fire District 9 in Mineral and allegedly used a district card for just over $1,500 in personal use between 2013 and 2014, according to the sheriff’s office.

Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said this morning said a report from the Washington State Auditor’s Office came back early last week and showed Mounce misappropriated more than $5,000 worth of fuel from the district.

Some it occurred in the Morton area and some in Eatonville, according to Breen. Similar charges have been filed in Pierce County, Breen said.

Mounce, 23, of Mineral has not been arrested and a charging decision will be made by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Breen said the audit overall showed $20,300 worth of fuel misappropriated from the district but it couldn’t be determined who was responsible. He didn’t note the time period involved.