Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Authorities were expecting a structural engineer this morning to examine what remains of the burned out two-story building in downtown Centralia and determine if it must be torn down.

Firefighting crews were on the scene at Tower Avenue and Main Street overnight hitting hot spots with water, a spokesperson for the police and fire departments said this morning.

A meeting is scheduled for noon so that officials can make decisions about their next steps, according to Centralia Police Department Officer John Panco.

Fire swept through the historic Dr. Matz building early yesterday, devastating five businesses and leaving the inhabitants of a dozen second-floor apartments homeless.

The box-like gray building is probably best known for owner Linda Hamilton’s Centralia Perk coffee shop.

Riverside Fire Authority Assistant Chief Rick Mack said he and other investigators have not been able to go inside to determine the cause, but an interview yesterday with the couple associated with Curious Betty’s clothing boutique offered some possibilities.

One is a plug-in baseboard type space heater, which would be unusual if it had ignited, Mack said.

The other more likely source was a taper candle which was burning on a desk inside the shop, he said.

The couple had worked a long day and laid down and fallen asleep in the boutique when they awoke to intense heat and heavy smoke, Mack said.

They managed to find their way outside fortunately, he said.

“They are extremely lucky because there are no smoke alarms in that portion of the building,” Mack said. “That they woke up at all is a miracle.”

Investigators may or may not be able to get inside the building to determine the cause of the fire because of the structural integrity of the building, he said.

Fire Chief Jim Walkowski today said crews never made it inside the Matz building.

“There was a collapse of the floor section above Betty’s and we fought it from the outside,” Walkowski said.

Riverside was called at about 2:20 a.m. yesterday and joined by fire departments from Chehalis, Napavine, Rochester and Gibson Valley.

The fire wasn’t contained until 6 a.m., but they continued to pour water on it from ladder trucks throughout the day.

Firefighters did take hoses into an adjacent building, where they battled to keep the flames that tried to spread  south to the other businesses on the block, Walkowski said.

Even that was risky, according to the chief.

“We had a structural collapse as they were fighting fire inside (there),” he said. “It was really close.”

Walkowski said he believed there were smoke alarms in the apartment area but there was no monitored fire alarm system in the building.

The chief said some of those who were displaced were getting assistance from the Red Cross and some were staying with family.

Assistant Chief Mack still has a couple of possible other ignition sources to work on ruling in or out.

The official cause on his report is going to read undetermined, Mack said this morning, until and if he can get inside and hopefully find out for sure what happened.

He said he doesn’t have any reason to disbelieve the couple from Curious Betty’s.

“Like I said, and I’ll say it again,” Mack said. “It was a miracle they got out alive.”

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Watch a video from a circling helicopter yesterday by KATU.com out of Portland, here

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.