Courtesy photo by Lindsey Tomasheck
Updated at 8:31 a.m. and 9:23 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Firefighters are still on the scene this morning at a blaze in a downtown Centralia building.
“It’s still actively burning,” Riverside Fire Authority Firefighter-paramedic Craig Ellenbolt said.
Crews were called just before 2:20 a.m. when fire broke out at 101 S. Tower Avenue.
It’s the Dr. Matz building on the southwest corner of Main and Tower, a masonry structure among the oldest buildings in town, Centralia Police Department Officer John Panco said.
A dozen residents of the apartments on the upper level were evacuated safely and are all accounted for, Panco said this morning.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army are on scene offering assistance, as fire departments continue to spray water on the building, he said.
The ground level houses the Centralia Perk coffee shop and a tattoo shop, according to Panco. Linda Hamilton of Centralia Perk owns the building, he said.
The power has been shut down to an approximately three-block area, according to Centralia City Light.
Ashley Stemkoski with city light said some 75 to 100 customers are without electricity between Tower Avenue and Pearl Street and Magnolia to Locust streets.
They’re waiting until the fire department gives them the okay to turn it back on, Stemkoski said about 9:15 a.m.
Officials are just getting ready to open up Pearl Street but remaining closed are Tower Avenue from Locust to Pine, and Main Street between Railroad Avenue and Pearl Street, police said about 9:25 a.m.
The cause is under investigation, according to Panco.
More to come
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Dr. Matz building at southwest corner of Tower Avenue and Main Street in downtown Centralia.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter