Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – With ballots counted from more than half the registered voters in Lewis County, the numbers show its a “done deal” with challenger Jonathan Meyer leading Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden, according to longtime Lewis County Auditor Gary Zandell.

The Centralia attorney has 66.28 percent of the votes compared with 33.72 percent for the incumbent.

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More to come

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  The Lewis County Coroner’s Office is identifying the Centralia man who whose body was found when a fire in his apartment was extinguished early yesterday as Ron Ray Meeks, age 56.

Centralia fire authorities had listed Meeks yesterday as 54.

Ron Meeks home

Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris said this morning Meeks died from smoke inhalation and his manner of death is being classified as an accident.

The cause of the approximately 4 a.m. fire on Monday on the 300 block of Magnolia Street has not been released, but the fire chief has said it is not suspicious.

Meeks moved into the complex in February and his girlfriend moved out about three weeks ago, according to neighbors.

Harris said his only immediate family is one sister who lives in Utah.

Harris said this morning the office has made the same findings about 54-year-old Gary Ike, who perished in his Ethel home late Wednesday night.

The cause of that fire is most likely an accident from combustible materials too close to a space heater, according to fire investigator Derrick Paul.

Gary Allen Ike

Seven space heaters were found in the house, which had a wood stove as its main heat source , Paul said. Ike had been burning in the wood stove, Paul said this morning.

It was partially the large amount of material kept in the small house that led Paul to that conclusion, he said.

“There was lots and lots of clutter, there was lots and lots of stuff everywhere,” he said.

In both fires, investigators lamented the lack of working smoke detectors.

Paul said last week that’s a commonality in almost every fire fatality they see.

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Read “Resident from Ethel’s fatal house fire was a ‘good guy’ ” from 7:46 a.m. on Friday Oct. 29, 2010 here

Read “Cause of fatal Centralia apartment fire still unknown, but not suspicious, fire chief says” from 7 p.m. yesterday Monday Nov. 1, 2010 here

A Washington State Patrol bomb squad and a sheriff's deputy wait in Onalaska for a bomb sniffing dog to inspect a Lewis Mountain Highway Transit bus yesterday.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

ONALASKA – A bus carrying eight passengers from East Lewis County was tracked down and evacuated yesterday after somebody phoned in a bomb threat.

An anonymous caller on a cell phone told 911 somebody put a  bomb on a transit bus at about 11 a.m., according to Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Fred Wetzel. Deputies rushed east on U.S. Highway 12 to intercept the bus as the driver was notified, he said.

The driver dropped off the passengers at Brenda’s Country Market on state Route 508 in Onalaska and parked the bus a ways up a side road, he said.

The Lewis Mountain Highway Transit bus was making its 85 mile trip from Packwood to Centralia.

Doug Hayden, executive director White Pass Community Services Coalition which operates the bus service, waited at Alexander Street near the sheriff’s office road block for a bomb squad from the Washington State Patrol to inspect the vehicle.

“We’ve never had a bomb scare before, in the 12 years we’ve been operating,” Hayden said.

He said they hadn’t had anybody angry at the bus service that he knew of.

“So it’s just somebody doing something stupid,” he speculated.

The Morton-based bus service makes three round trips each day between Packwood and the Twin Cities.

The passengers, which included three children, had already been picked up by another bus by 1 p.m.

Bomb squad members did a quick check of the bus and brought in a bomb-sniffing dog.

Trooper Bill Henkel, of the state patrol’s Homeland Security Division, came from Seattle with his canine partner Tru. It took the pair less than 10 minutes to determine if the bus was safe.

It was.

Trooper Bill Henkel, of the state patrol's Homeland Security Division, came from Seattle with his canine partner Tru to check for possible explosives on a bus in Onalaska yesterday.

The early morning fire in a Centralia apartment left its sole occupant dead even though there was no structural damage

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – The fire chief confirmed the man who died in a Centralia apartment fire early this morning was the resident.

His name is not being released until his family is notified, according to Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walksowski.

The chief said he was 54 years old and lived there alone.

Firefighters called at 4:05 a.m. to the single-story complex on the corner of Magnolia and Iron streets found the unit filled with smoke, but not so much in the way of flames, Walkowski said. It had been smoldering, he said.

“It wasn’t your typical fire from that perspective,” Walkowski said.

A young man staying at the apartment had been knocking on the door trying to get in, and when he got the door partially open, smoke seeped out, according to neighbors and Walkowski. He went next door and called 911, the chief said.

Eleven responding firefighters put out out the fire and found the resident  dead in the bedroom area, according to Walkowski.

The cause has not yet been determined, but it’s not suspicious, he said.

Tom Dipola, the property manager, said the resident moved there in early February. His girlfriend moved out about three weeks ago, according to neighbors.

“He was a pest, always beating on the door, but he was a good guy,” neighbor Bob Penfield said, adding he meant his neighbor visited him a lot.

Penfield said his neighbor didn’t work, he had residual problems from a head injury in a bad accident years ago.

“They were quiet and they were Christians, and they’d come here and talk about the Bible,” Penfield said.

The damage was confined to the contents of the apartment, it didn’t affect the structure or units on either side of it, according to Walkowski. The worst of it was in the front living area, he said.

The buildings, each containing four apartments, are made of concrete block.

A couch, mattress and wheelchair sat outside the building this morning after police and fire investigators finished their work. A scarecrow leaned next to the front door with pumpkins and several other items at its feet.

The wheelchair wasn’t the resident’s Walkowski said.

It’s the second fatal fire in the area in less than a week. Late Wednesday night, 54-year-old Gary Allen Ike perished when his Ethel-area home burnt.

Walkowski said: “Both these fires lacked one common thing, and that’s a smoke detector.”

“Having an operational smoke detector, is very, very important,” Walkowski said.
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Riverside Fire Authority strongly encourages the following precautions:

• Smoke detectors should be placed in each living area, including each bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of a home.
• Change the batteries at least once each year
• Develop an escape plan that includes two exits from every room and a meeting place outside.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

One man is dead after an apartment fire this morning in Centralia.

Firefighters are still on the scene after the approximately 4 a.m. call to the 300 block of West Magnolia Street.

Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkowski said firefighters entered the apartment, put out the fire and found an adult male deceased.

The single story complex is on the southeast corner of Magnolia and Iron Street.

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More later