Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a Ninth Street house in Chehalis. / Photo by Branden Willson
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A woman, her brother and 95-year-old mother escaped their burning house in Chehalis yesterday afternoon, a fire that might have been caused by a cigarette.
The top floor of the one and a half story home was destroyed.
Crews were called about 3:30 p.m. a residential neighborhood on Southwest Ninth Street, a block west of Market Boulevard.
Ramona Staker rested on the sidewalk across the street, holding her small dog, as firefighters pulled blackened and damaged materials out an upstairs window after the flames were extinguished.
“I’ve got awesome friends, and my God watches over me,” she said. “We’re safe.”
Staker said they had just returned from helping at a church garage sale and ordered pizza when she heard the smoke detector go off.
“I immediately went upstairs and it was already full of black smoke,” Staker said.
She didn’t remember how her dog got out, but a friend who had seen smoke and went in before firefighters arrived said Staker carried it out.
“I ran in,” Jeri Watkins said. “Her mom kept going back in to get her brother.”
Chehalis Fire Department Capt. Ted McCarty said five firefighters from Centralia, six from neighboring Lewis County Fire District 6 and he joined the crew of two on duty.
“The guys made entry and found half to a third of it (upstairs) already on fire,” McCarty said. “They got a good stop on it.”
McCarty, who is also a fire investigator said he hadn’t yet pinpointed the cause, but was told the brother had been smoking upstairs earlier, and the brother had discovered the bed burning.
Raymond Staker was treated at the scene for first and second degrees on his forearm. He said it happened when he lifted the mattress to look.
The family wouldn’t be able to stay there until repairs were made, according to McCarty. The Red Cross was contacted to assist them, he said.
“They made a great stop inside, everyone got out okay, so it’s a good day,” he said.
Ramona Staker is comforted as she watches crews remove fire damaged materials from her house.
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Lewis County Fire District 6, Riverside Fire Authority and the Chehalis Fire Department put out the house fire in Chehalis.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter