A firefighter in front of Just Wood Furniture in Centralia is one of several putting water on the blaze that broke out around 3 o'clock Saturday morning. / Photo by Richard LaLonde
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A three-alarm fire ravaged a furniture store in Centralia overnight and spread to a neighboring former gas station before it was knocked down.
The Just Wood furniture business on Harrison Avenue near Yew Street sounds like it’s a complete loss, an assistant fire chief said this morning as he was coming on duty.
“The (convenience) store next door had already started burning when units were arriving, therefore, it was pretty advanced,” Riverside Fire Authority Assistant Chief Mike Kytta said.
One firefighter sustained an ankle injury and was hospitalized, but he has since been treated and released, Kytta said.
Firefighters were called around 3 a.m. and found the business with an adjoining two-story shop ablaze, according to Kytta.
They kept the damage to the Centralia Food Mart to a minimum – its one wall was charred – and protected another nearby office building, he said. The Food Mart used to be a service station, but its gas pumps and tanks have been removed, according to Kytta.
The assistant chief said he expected the some of the department and investigators to be on site much of today.
Centralia police said Harrison Avenue between West First and Yew streets would be closed until 3 p.m.
The last three-alarm fire Kytta could recall was four years ago when half of Oakview Elementary School in north Centralia was destroyed by runaway fireworks.
The flames begin to consume the street side storefront of Just Wood Furniture. / Photo by Richard LaLonde
Fire trucks from Centralia and Chehalis sit on Harrison Avenue early Saturday morning. / Photo by Richard LaLonde
Firefighters continue to put water on Just Wood Furniture as well as two adjacent buildings which were spared. / Photo by Richard LaLonde
Firefighters battle the three-alarm fire well into Saturday morning. / Photo by Richard LaLonde
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Notes from behind the news: Don’t thumb your nose at a judge
Friday, July 23rd, 2010By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
I wish I could tell you more about Karen Kristine Sudderth.
She’s the woman who was sentenced this week in connection with taking her young son out of the country – years ago – allegedly hiding him from his father.
During about 30 minutes of proceedings on Wednesday in Lewis County Superior Court, I learned the gist of the case, but not enough to write a news story.
I didn’t cover her trial in June, which ended in a hung jury. And I didn’t read through her court file.
But I’ll offer a small snapshot of what I did learn listening to lengthy, detailed and even passionate discourse from attorneys, and brief but telling comments from the defendant and Judge Nelson Hunt:
Disobey a court order at your own peril, and if you want to address the judge, take the opportunity when it’s offered to you.
The prosecutor and the defense attorney put together a plea agreement in exchange for not attempting a second trial.
Sudderth pleaded guilty Wednesday to a gross misdemeanor to avoid the possibility of a felony conviction. Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher and Tacoma attorney Bryan Hershman asked the judge for a 30-day sentence and for his blessing it could be fulfilled with house arrest.
It was a so-called Alford plea, meaning she didn’t actually admit guilt.
Local attorney Paul Dugaw addressed the court on behalf of Sudderth’s former husband. He called the deprivation of a father’s right to see his child grow into an adult a travesty. Her actions were egregious, he said.
“Ms. Sudderth made a calculated decision to flaunt the orders of the court,” Dugaw said.
An order for her arrest warrant was filed in January 1997. She was brought to court last October.
After Dugaw sat down, Judge Hunt was blunt.
She will be locked up for three months (specifically 88 days), no electronic home monitoring, and “jail starts now,” the judge pronounced.
“I have a very similar view as he has expressed,” Hunt said, referring to the father’s lawyer. “We can’t have people saying, I’m going to flaunt the law, thumb my nose at the court for 15 years, and then come back and get 30 days in jail.”
Hunt noted he didn’t give Sudderth the maximum sentence, and if I understood him correctly, that had to do with choosing an amount of time less than what she would have gotten if she were convicted of the higher charge.
Her attorney Hershman asked Hunt: She has pets in her apartment, may we start that in two days?
Hunt: No we may not.
Sudderth – who had previously answered each of the judge’s inquiries to her with “Yes, your honor”, except for when he asked her before sentencing if there was anything she would like to say – stood up.
She waited.
I have to paraphrase here, but just a a little bit.
Sudderth: Your honor?
Hunt: What?
Sudderth: May I address the court?
Hunt: No.
She remains standing.
Hunt: You had your opportunity. There’s nothing you can say. The corrections officers are here for you now.
“Just sit down.”
Tags:By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
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