Lewis County Sirens.com

Firefighters spray water and foam on a burning logging yarder. / Courtesy photo by West Thurston Regional Fire Authority

This news story was updated at 8:53 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters called about 11 o’clock last night found a large piece of logging equipment fully engulfed in flames next to a heavy equipment repair shop in Grand Mound.

The cause is under investigation, according to Chief Robert Scott of West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

Scott said the logging yarder – which he estimated to be about 75 feet tall – and a large pool of hydraulic fluid beneath it, were burning at Modern Machinery on Ivan Street Southwest near Old Highway 99.

Firefighters also encountered flames on a large acetylene tank – used for welding – which they had to remove from the area, according to Scott.

Crews using water and foam quickly extinguished the blaze and were able to prevent any damage to the building, according to Scott.

Eighteen firefighters came from West Thurston, as well as Tenino, East Olympia and McLane-Black Lake, according to the chief.

A worker there had been welding yesterday afternoon and they are looking into the possibility something smoldered and finally ignited, Scott said.

The logging yarder – valued at $200,000 – sustained substantial damage, he said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The state’s first coastal Doppler radar has been turned on and will soon be able to help weather forecasters improve their predictions of storms over Southwest Washington such as the December 2007 disaster that left large parts of Lewis County underwater.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and the National Weather Service announced yesterday the new technology should be operational by the end of September.

The Olympic Mountains block the state’s only other Doppler radar, and the change means authorities will be able to give more accurate and timely warnings to residents in harms way, according to a news release from Cantwell’s office.

It’s a change Boistfort-area Fire Chief Gregg Peterson is looking forward to.

Everyone knew it rained hard, but had no way of knowing how much precipitation had fallen and for long in early December 2007, according to Peterson.

Had authorities been able to get the word out sooner, Peterson thinks hundreds, if not thousands, of animals could have been moved and saved.

Up to 20 inches in 24 hours hit the coastal mountains of Southwest Washington during that storm, according to University of Washington Professor Cliff Mass.

For more details on the radar, read information from Mass’s weather blog, here

And remember, when November comes around, links to the National Weather Service’s weather forecasts and river levels are always on the right-hand sidebar of Lewis County Sirens.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Benjamin S. Alaniz, 26, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges related to allegedly trying to fire a gun repeatedly into the face of an acquaintance on Monday.

Benjamin S. Alaniz

Alaniz is charged with first-degree assault, first-degree attempted robbery, unlawful imprisonment, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine.

The Chehalis man is being held on $500,000 bail following the events that were reported to have occurred in the back of a car near the Centralia Outlet Mall west of Interstate 5 on Monday afternoon.

Police were told Briana L. Carrothers picked up Nicholas J. George to go buy drugs and Alaniz jumped into the car, put the gun to George and demanded money. Both George and Carrothers said they then heard the gun click several times as if being fired but no shots discharged.

The Lewis County Prosecutors Office said it is contemplating increasing the charges to include attempted second-degree murder.

A trial date was set for the week of September 26.
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Read background here

WANTED WOMAN FLEES POLICE ON BIKE

• A 55-year-old woman fled police on a bicycle, ran into some blackberry bushes and then fought with officers when they tried to arrest her on an outstanding warrant in Centralia yesterday, according to the Centralia Police Department. It happened around 1:25 p.m. near Mellen Street and Airport Road, according to police. Officers used their Taser and eventually detained Kimberly A. Mott, police reported. She and the officers sustained what were described as a few scratches from the blackberries. Mott was listed as one of Lewis County so-called most wanted. She had failed to appear for court, Officer John Panco said. In mid-March, Mott fled a traffic stop in Chehalis and ended up crashing into a truck in Centralia before she was detained. Mott was booked yesterday into the Lewis County Jail for resisting arrest and the warrant.

ROOF FIRE AT CENTRALIA MOTEL

• Firefighters were called about 1:30 p.m. yesterday to the King Oscar Motel in Centralia for a roof fire. A crew working on the roof had accidentally ignited some tar paper, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The workers were still trying to put the flames out with a hose when firefighters arrived to the Eckerson Road motel, Capt. Casey McCarthy said. “We were able to put a pretty quick stop on the fire,” he said. The fire had extended into the rafters, causing somewhere between $10,000 to $15,000 damage, McCarthy said.

DRUGS

• A 38-year-old homeless person was arrested for possession of methamphetamine early this morning in Centralia. Peter D. Harris was booked into the Lewis County Jail following his contact with an officer about 12:45 a.m. on the 400 block of Oak Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police arrested a 26-year-old Centralia man for possession of methamphetamine yesterday evening at the 600 block of State Street. John McNeal was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the police department.

BIKE VERSUS VEHICLE COLLISIONS IN CHEHALIS, CENTRALIA

• A 17-year-old boy was hospitalized with a gash on top of his head after his bicycle ran into the back of a parked vehicle near the Chehalis Post Office yesterday. Firefighters and police were called about 11:13 a.m. to Northwest Cascade Avenue. Fire Capt. Ted McCarthy said the teenager was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with what he described as a minor injury.

• Centralia police responded to a vehicle versus bicycle accident on Harrison Avenue at East Bridge Street about 4:50 p.m. yesterday. There were no injuries, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Updated at 11:46 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Several people were hospitalized after two separate wrecks on U.S. Highway 12 yesterday afternoon, all reportedly with minor injuries.

Aid and troopers were called just after 5 p.m. to Highway 12 and Williams Street at Mossyrock where a pickup truck pulling a travel trailer and a sedan collided, according to Lewis County Fire District 3.

One lane of the highway was closed for several hours while the truck and trailer were removed from a ditch where they had rolled, Fire Chief Doug Fosburg said.

Its driver was the only person unhurt but four others were taken to the hospital, Fosburg said.

The collision was blamed on a Port Angeles man driving the Dodge Ram who ran a red light.

It and Alta Huber’s 1994 Buick were both totaled, according to the Washington State Patrol. The state patrol reported Huber was uninjured although the fire chief said she was.

At about 1 p.m. near Randle, a van traveling west on Highway 12 hit a ditch, collided with a rock and then rolled once after its driver fell asleep, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Two passengers were uninjured but the driver was taken to Morton General Hospital with a cut hand, according to the state patrol.

The 1992 Toyota Previa van was described as totaled.

The driver, 19-year-old Derek S. Livengood from Portland, was cited for second-degree negligent driving.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Federal agents confiscated more than 16 pounds of crystal methamphetamine yesterday when they arrested two people near Napavine.

Law enforcement has been investigating the two Vancouver, Wash. men since before May, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Agents followed their vehicle and made a traffic stop at Interstate 5’s exit 72 interchange, according to a news release from DEA Special Agent Jodie Underwood.

“Inside the van a concealed compartment was located that contained over 16 pounds of crystal methamphetamine,” Underwood wrote.

Ricardo Estrada, 43, arranged a meeting yesterday to deliver seven pounds of methamphetamine in Vancouver, according to the news release. Subsequently, surveillance observed Estrada and Francisco Cervantes, 47, depart a residence in a van that Estrada stated contained additional methamphetamine destined for another drug customer, Underwood wrote in the news release.

Underwood did not say where they were headed.

The pair appeared today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

Estrada was charged by complaint with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and carrying/possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Cervantes was charged by complaint with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Alleged in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court is the following:

In May 2011, Estrada provided a sample of methamphetamine to law enforcement. Between June and July, Estrada sold nearly one pound of crystal methamphetamine and a .45 caliber handgun to law enforcement.

The investigation was conducted with the assistance of the Clark-Skamania Drug Task Force.

Law enforcement executed multiple related search warrants yesterday in Vancouver.

Clark-Skamania Drug Task Force Commander Mike Cooke said in the news release:

“These arrests are a significant blow to a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating in Clark County. This has been a long investigation and we’re happy to see it come to a successful conclusion.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine carries a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison and a fine up to $10 million dollars.

Also assisting in the investigation was the Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team with members from several agencies including the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and police departments in Tacoma, Puyallup, Bonney Lake, and Auburn.

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Read more in The (Vancouver) Columbian, Friday Aug. 5, 2011, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – There isn’t going to be a trial for the Winlock grocery store manager accused last year of stealing lottery tickets from his workplace.

Benjamin C. Macy is expected in court this afternoon as a plea agreement has been reached, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.

Attorneys will set a date for Macy to plead guilty, according to Halstead. He didn’t reveal the substance of the agreement.

Macy was charged in May of last year with two counts of second-degree theft after a video surveillance camera allegedly showed him scratching off dozens of $20 tickets at 4:30 in the morning at the Cedar Village IGA.

The 51-year-old Winlock resident had worked for the store for 30 years, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.

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Read about the case here