Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters are rallying the troops to help a Winlock firefighter who was seriously hurt last month when a a pickup truck he was working on rolled over him and dragged him 25 to 35 yards.

Responders from Greg D’Adda’s own department, Lewis County Fire District 15, answered the evening call on Father’s Day to the scene at the 200 block of Burnett Road, off of Jones Road.

Greg D'Adda benefit

D’Adda, 37, was flown by helicopter to a Seattle hospital after the accident.

Firefighter-EMT Patrick Jacobson is organizing a gathering next Wednesday night in Chehalis to raise money for the family’s mounting expenses.

“Just trying to help a brother out,” Jacobson said. “That’s what it comes down to.”

They’re calling it Pipes and Pints, because Chehalis firefighters Jay Birley and Rob Gebhart will entertain with their bagpipes and it will be held at the Market Street Pub.

Jacobson, 21, has known D’Adda for years, but said he has no idea if the firefighter has health insurance.

“I’m not sure if he does or doesn’t,” Jacobson said. “Being that we flew him to Harborview, that’s $15,000 or $20,000 and his wife has been driving back and forth to Harborview.”

They expect to put out a bucket – or a boot – for people to drop donations into, according to Jacobson. They’ve also been selling tickets for $10 pitchers of beer.

The benefit is set for 7 p.m. next Wednesday, at 523 N. Market Blvd.

Jacobson said D’Adda came down to watch firefighter training on Monday night and it seemed like he was doing “pretty good.” He’s not sure if D’Adda will attend the fundraiser.

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The (Longview) Daily News posted a story late Wednesday night about D’Adda. Read it here.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Three Rochester-area firefighters are among those helping with the huge Yakima-area wildfire and are expected to be demobilized today.

Firefighters Rob Smith, Jed Neumeier and Jennifer Belcher of the West  Thurston Regional Fire Authority took a brush truck to the east side of the mountains, according to Lt. Eric Smith. They were part of a group which responded on Monday with two volunteer firefighters from Lewis County Fire District 5, he said.

The majority of the Cowiche Mill fire, which spread across some nine square miles west of Yakima, is contained, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. It started on Sunday.

The Washington state Fire Marshals Office announced today the demobilization of extra resources is set for 2 p.m.

The Yakima Herald-Republic published a news story on the blaze late last night which can be found here.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office sent out a news release tonight saying a body was found by searchers looking for missing Morton teenager Austin King.

The brief statement doesn’t say it is the 16-year-old who vanished from his Chapman Road home a month ago, only that the body of a male was found near a logging road outside Morton today.

The news release from 7:30 p.m. says the sheriff’s office was notified at 2 p.m. today.

It said that currently detectives are processing the scene and coordinating with with Lewis County Coroner’s Office to remove the body, and an identity has not been established.

The teenager’s family had scheduled a candle light vigil for Friday evening in Gus Backstrom Park, marking a month since he disappeared.

Family and friends have been conducting organized searches for Austin since shortly after he was reported missing. The sheriff’s office has said it hasn’t done so because there was no one place to begin looking.

Austin was last seen by his mother Christy Harper at about 12:15 a.m. on June 23 when he said goodnight to her and went off to his bedroom with two buddies to watch television.

KOMO TV News spoke with the sheriff and with one of the searchers tonight. Read their news story here.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A garage and shop in the Toledo area was destroyed by fire yesterday but the adjacent house spared.

Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank said the blaze on the 500 block of Toledo-Salmon Creek Road was reported by more than one person. “You could see the smoke from three miles away,” he said.

He was on the scene within four minutes of the 4:39 p.m. call but the detached building was already fully involved in flames, Wiltbank said. The single-story home was just 10 to 12 feet away from the fire, he said.

“Basically, we got there in the nick of time,” he said. “About one more minute and it would have got the house, so we saved the house.”

The occupants were not at home.

Eleven firefighters from Toledo, Winlock and Vader responded and used compressed air foam on the double-car garage used also as a shop, he said.

Inside, and also destroyed, was an ice cream truck he described as about the size of a golf cart and some appliances, Wiltbank said.

A fire investigator is looking into the cause.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two volunteer firefighters from the Napavine-area fire district responded to an overnight call for more help at a Yakima area wildfire that has grown to an estimated 10,000 acres.

Firefighters Kevin VanEgdom and Raymond Smerek were taking a Lewis County Fire District 5 tender that holds 3,000 gallons of water, District 5 Firefighter Brad Bozarth said this morning.

The grass and sage fire three miles west of Yakima which began yesterday is threatening 150 structures, according to an update just before 10 o’clock this morning from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. The Cowiche Mill fire is about 15 percent contained, according to the center.

The NWCC serves as the northwest area geographic focal point to provide support and information related to ongoing and anticipated wildfire activity.

Bozarth said the two men don’t know for sure how long they’ll be over there helping with the fire.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reported this morning the huge brush fire has destroyed one home, and heavily damaged another as well as some barns.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 30-year-old Bellevue man died last night following a single-car collision on the Fourth of July weekend outside Toledo when he sustained massive head injuries, the state patrol reported this morning.

Teggina Matha Abhay, 30, was a passenger in a small car that left the road about five miles east of Toledo went down a steep embankment and struck a tree next to the highway, according to responders.

The 24-year-old driver and a 27-year-old woman in the backseat walked out of the vehicle but firefighters had to cut apart the 2010 Ford Fusion to remove the front seat passenger, responders reported.

It happened about 7:15 a.m. on July 3, in the curves of state Route 505 beyond Dowling Road – a popular route to Mount St. Helens. The driver had moved to the right when he saw an oncoming truck and went off the road, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Abhay was flown by helicopter to Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash. The survivors, Avinash Rajopala Setty, 24, and Leelavathy Mandya Nagaraja, 27, also from Bellevue, received cuts and scrapes in the accident, according to the state patrol. The car was totaled.

The cause of the crash was not the oncoming truck, the state patrol reported this morning. The driver was cited for “wheels off the roadway”, the patrol reported.