Lewis County Sirens.com

St. Helens Apartments, 440 N Market Blvd, Chehalis / Image from Lewis County

Updated at 8:40 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The downtown Chehalis stretch of North Market Boulevard that runs by the St. Helens Apartments will be closed this morning as crews bring out their ladder trucks and engage in hands-on pre-planning for how they would fight a fire there.

The tallest building in town is six stories high, with a basement, and is home to scores of people, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. All of its 54 units are occupied, Firefighter-Investigator Derrick Paul said.

The on-scene practice is something they do for complex and potentially dangerous structures, Paul said.

“We haven’t done the St. Helens in probably 10 years,” he said.

The Chehalis Fire Department and Riverside Fire Authority will both bring out their ladder trucks, to see just how high the ladders reach and to scope out the best places to park them for a fire, Paul said.

Members of Lewis County Fire District 6 will be joining them as well, he said.

They expect to begin about 9 a.m. and hope to be done around 11 a.m.

The entire 400 block of North Market Boulevard will be shut down. One block of Cascade Avenue that runs behind the apartments will be closed too, although one lane is expected to remain open, according to Paul.

The masonry wall with wood beam constructed building  dates back to 1900, according to Paul. The individual apartments don’t have fire sprinklers, but there are a couple on each level in common areas, he said.

Paul said that over the years, they’ve responded to several fires there, but fortunately the fire station is close and all have ended up being “room and contents” fires, getting extinguished before spreading.

Courtesy photo by Chehalis Fire Department.

Joseph L. Nickols, in red and white striped jail garb, sits at the defense table when he was charged with harassment on Monday in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Lewis County Jail inmate remains held on $500,000 bail for allegedly threatening to kill jail staff and their families in a letter he wrote to his girlfriend which was intercepted at the Chehalis facility.

An attorney for Joseph L. Nickols, 33, of Chehalis, yesterday requested a reduction in the bail amount, but was denied.

Nickols pleaded not guilty yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court to two counts of felony harassment.

According to charging documents, Nickols was on a “watch list” for his mail, and Corrections Officer Jack Haskins was alarmed when he read the letter.

It appeared Nickols was upset because jailers were reading his mail.

Haskins told a detective he’d been threatened by the inmate in the past and based on his criminal history, felt he would carry out the threats, according to the charging documents.

The second alleged victim is a jail employee who didn’t read the letter, but read Haskins’ report about it, according to documents.

In the letter, Nickols suggested he would shoot with their own gun all who messed with his mail, according to the documents.

His past convictions include drugs, theft, burglary, witness tampering and protection order violations.

According to the jail’s roster, he was in custody since the beginning of April in connection with failing to appear in court for a suspended license case as well as violating a no contact order.

Harassment is a class C felony, with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Thurston detectives are looking for a yellow mid to late 1970s pickup with primer on its hood after a Rochester man reported a road rage incident with gunfire exchanged yesterday.

The 32-year-old Rochester resident called 911 from home just before 2 p.m. to report what occurred, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

The victim, whose name was not released, said he was traveling on McCorkle Road Southeast when the pickup came up behind him and he heard what sounded like two gunshots, according to the sheriff’s office. The pickup then rear-ended his car, and his car’s back window shattered, Lt. Cliff Ziesemer said.

Ziesemer said the victim sped up to get away but the truck got up beside him and tried to run him off the road. The victim said he saw the passenger in the truck holding what looked like a pistol out the window.

As they approached Tilley Road Southeast on 113th Avenue, near Millersylvania State Park, the victim slowed, pointed his pistol out his window and fired several rounds, the leitenent said.

The bullets may have struck the grill of the yellow pickup, according to Ziesemer.

The victim sped away and drove home to Rochester to call 911, he said.

A flagger in the area said she didn’t hear any gunfire, but had to pull over twice when she saw the small red car and then the yellow truck coming at her. She said she observed a male about 30 years old in the truck, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies found five casings in the area where the victim said he fired his weapon.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating the 1970’s Ford pickup and its occupants.

The truck sat high and may have had a hitch on the front bumper.

If anyone has information, they are asked to please call detective Mitch King at 360-786-5517 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222- TIPS.