Lewis County Sirens.com

BARN FIRE MAY HAVE STARTED FROM STORED CHICKEN POOP

• A fire that destroyed an Onalaska barn with five tractors parked inside was probably ignited by decomposing hay or chicken manure stored inside, a fire investigator said this morning. The fire went unnoticed until a worker arriving Friday morning to the structure off the 200 block of Griel Road found the barn had burned and the roof collapsed, according to Fire Investigator Ted McCarty. The hay was still burning, he said. The 100-foot by 50-foot structure sits behind a grove of trees at the end of a dead end road kind of out of sight, McCarty said. There were no chickens in the building at the Matthiesen family farm, just the manure, according to McCarty.

BURNING T-SHIRT FOUND INSIDE HOME

• Firefighters called about 1:30 p.m. Saturday to the 200 block of Tennessee Road near Winlock found a smoke-filled home and a smoldering T-shirt sitting on top of a speaker in a bedroom. They used a fire extinguisher to put it out, according to Firefighter Kevin Anderson of Lewis County Fire District 15. Sheriff’s deputies were reportedly looking into the incident.

ASSAULTS

• Chehalis police were called about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday to North National Avenue where a man with a fat lip said he had been beat up. He said he woke up by the mint factory, and had been at one of the bars, but couldn’t remember where it happened, according to Chehalis police.

• Centralia police were called just before 10 p.m. on Saturday to the 500 block of Harrison Avenue where a male was assaulted and an attempt was made to take a cell phone, according to the Centralia Police Department.

POLICE PURSUIT

• A police pursuit on Saturday afternoon in Randle ended with the arrest of a 37-year-old man who was driving with a suspended license, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy observed a vehicle traveling more than 60 mph and in the oncoming lane at a blind curve on the 100 block of Cispus Road, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver sped up but then parked his vehicle on a bridge and fled into the woods, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning. Jake N. Dunaway of Randle, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for attempted eluding, reckless driving and resisting arrest, according to Brown.

PIECE OF SAFETY EQUIPMENT SNATCHED FROM TRAIN TRACKS

• BNSF reported somebody stole a 100-pound steel safety device from railroad tracks near Bucoda, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The yellow-painted item went missing from the area between 184th Avenue Southwest and Bucoda sometime between Wednesday and Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office. The object, called a “Hayes derailer” was mounted on a side track and meant to prevent any parked railroad car which might drift from getting onto the main tracks, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said.

BREAK-INS AND THEFTS

• Somebody snuck into a vacant residence and cut the copper plumbing pipe to a washing machine and hot water heater on the 5900 block of 189th Lane Southwest. The pipe was left behind but it will cost an estimated $5,000 to repair, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. A real estate agent holding an open house heard water running and the damage beneath the house was subsequently discovered, the sheriff’s office reported. It apparently happened sometime between Thursday and Friday.

• Chehalis police were called about 8:45 p.m. yesterday to a break-in to an apartment on Southwest 20th Street. A resident returned home to find a closet door open, according to police.

• Centralia police were called just before 6 a.m. on Sunday to an apartment building on the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue after the discovery of a burglary to an office there. Doors were forced open and computer components stolen, according to police.

• The back door to a business was kicked in on the 300 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police  about 8:40 p.m. on Saturday.

• A storeroom on the 2500 block of Mount Vista Road in Centralia was burglarized, according to a report made to police about 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

• Police were called about 4:15 a.m. today when an individual “interrupted a suspect’ attempting to siphon gas from a rental vehicle on the 1400 block of South Gold Street, according to the Centralia Police Department. However, the suspect fled, police reported.

• A deputy was called Sunday to the 6900 block of Creekside Lane Southwest in Rochester where somebody had cut a gate lock and stole utility trailers, a $5,000 generator, tools, including two edge trimmers, and two duffel bags filled with U.S. Marine Corps gear belonging to the victim’s grandson, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• Somebody cut and stole eight extension cords valued at $2,400 from Adventure RV on the 18300 block of Albany Street Southwest in Rochester, according to a report made Sunday to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• A green Craftsman riding lawn mower valued at $1,400 was stolen from a garden shed on the 10,300 block of Case Road, according to a report made Sunday to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• Somebody stole a Honda EM3500 generator from a travel trailer on Mima Road, according to a report made Friday to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• Police were called about 3:40 p.m. on Saturday to the 3500 block of Galvin Road where somebody shot at windows numerous times with a BB gun, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Starla D. Parker, 29, of Centralia, was arrested for possession of suspected methamphetamine about 3:30 a.m. today near M and West First streets in Centralia, according to police.

COURT

• The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office announced this morning a jury found a Morton couple guilty on Friday of making a false insurance claim. Jennifer Mau, 30, and David Eden, 47, were in Lewis County Superior Court in connection with a claim filed involving a U-Haul trailer. The couple are the founders of the Mount St. Helens Chapter of a Texas-based group called Guardians of the Children, a group which was instrumental this summer in the search for 16-year-old Austin King, whose body was found a month after he vanished from his Morton-area home. The conviction of a class C felony means the possibility of up to 12 months in jail, according to a news release. Mau plans to appeal, saying she does not feel she is guilty of the charge.
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This was updated Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 at 7:44 a.m.

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Monday, September 27th, 2010 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Sharyn's sirens roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.