Updated at 9:43 a.m. and 11:06 a.m. and 11:43 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A 58-year-old man was struck and killed by a train in Centralia overnight.
Centralia police say witnesses told them he was standing on the tracks when he was hit by a northbound freight train.
It happened about 12:30 a.m. in the area near Chestnut Street and South Tower Avenue, where there are no pedestrian crossings, according to the Centralia Police Department.
Sgt. Stacy Denham said officers spoke to the train’s engineer and conductor and learned the man turned and looked at the train before impact. He didn’t move after repeated blasting of the train’s horn, according to police.
Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod says he has concluded it was an accident.
The victim, Michael T. Patton, lives in rural Chehalis, according to McLeod.
Police detective Rick Hughes said Patton had an unopened pack of cigarettes and an unscratched lottery ticket on him. He appears to have had some mental issues – specifically what, Hughes said he did not know – that may have caused him not to react quickly.
Hughes said he is not sure why Patton was in Centralia so late at night.
BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas said it is the second fatality on train tracks in Washington this year. The tracks were shut down for two hours.
“We can’t encourage the public enough to be aware that trains move on any track, at any time, in any direction,” Melonas said.
The stretch of tracks through Centralia is the busiest route in the state, with an average of 60 trains each day, according to Melonas.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Another death on the twin cities railways. When is Chehalis or Centralia going to step up and make these tracks safe? 60 trains per day, high speeds, multiple crossings with only one crossing arm per side. There are so many ways to make these crossings safer, and goodness knows that the horns aren’t doing anything except making people tune them out until it is too late.
Close a few crossings–fence off the shortcuts across the tracks. Four arms per crossing would be a great start to make things like this prevented.
Yes it is a tragic situation. not quite so tragic but still pretty bad is the fact that somebody can read an article like this and immediately come to a conclusion like that. He had Alzheimers and demesia so more than likely he was confused about where he was going or what time it was my father would never do something like that and I resent the fact that you would say that about a person you probably don’t even know. why did you even write anything do you just patrol sites looking terrible things that happen to others and write things like this. how would you feel if somebody wrote this about your family?
I have worked with some mentally ill persons who appear to get into “phases” where they are almost in slow motion. When I’ve asked, they have said, “It feels like the world speeds up, and I can’t respond to anything in time… questions, catching a falling object, things like that.”
I don’t know if that is a form of catatonia, or not… but I’ve observed it more than a few times.
Prayers for him and his family and friends.
Did he have a death wish? Regardless, it’s a very tragic situation.