Firefighters from three departments save the house but a barn-shop building on Hopp Road is mostly ruined by fire. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 2
FIRE FIGHT IN TOLEDO
• More than two dozen firefighters battled a blaze last night about a mile east of Toledo that started in a small shop attached to a large barn building and threatened a house. “The vinyl siding on the house was melting and the exterior had started to char,” Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank said. “It was one of the most aggressive fire fights that we’ve had that I can remember in a few years.” Numerous calls came in to 911 about 8:40 p.m., with smoke seen from as far away as Vader, he said. It happened on the 100 block of Hopp Road. One firefighter was treated at the scene for possible heat exhaustion, according to Wiltbank. The metal roofed wood building was approximately 40 feet by 80- feet and is probably a total loss, but much of the contents of equipment and tools are probably salvageable, he said. The chief estimated another two minutes and the house would have caught on fire. The cause is under investigation.
ALL FOR A POP
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says several thousand dollars in damage was done when someone broke into White Pass High School by breaking a door window and broke into a vending machine to steal several sodas and smashing security cameras while there. A deputy called yesterday morning to the 500 block of Silverbrook Road in Randle found that it occurred about 11 p.m. the night before and the culprits were two teenage boys dressed in dark clothing, according to the sheriff’s office. One of them appeared to have cut himself on the broken vending machine and may have a cut on his hand, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Some evidence was collected at the scene, Brown said.
ASSAULTS
• A 17-year-old boy was arrested yesterday afternoon in connection with a report of an attempted rape of a girl known to him occurring yesterday at the 1200 block of Alder Street, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Justice Center, according to police.
• Centralia police are investigating a report about 11:40 p.m. yesterday by a female that her ex-boyfriend hit her in the head and then fled. There is a current protection order between the two, according to police.
THEFT
• Chehalis police were called about 9:30 a.m. yesterday regarding a vehicle prowl on Northwest North Street.
SMALL FIRE
• Firefighters called just before 10 p.m. yesterday to a home on the 100 block of Joppish Road outside Centralia found an electrical fire in a bathroom ceiling exhaust fan. The fire was quickly extinguished and damage was limited to the fan and the fan housing, according to Riverside Fire Authority. There was some light smoke in the residence but there was no extension to the rest of the home or other damage, according to the fire department.
WRECKS
• Centralia police said an officer responded just after 5 p.m. yesterday to a collision between a vehicle and a bicycle at Main and Yew streets. The cyclist was left with minor scrapes and bruises and the driver was cited for failing to yield the right of way as well as no insurance, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• A pair of Eugene, Ore. residents were hospitalized yesterday after the big rig they were traveling in rolled onto its side spilling a load of telephone poles across all lanes of southbound Interstate 5 north of Centralia. Troopers called about 10:45 a.m. concluded Nathan A. Taylor, 26, had driven onto the shoulder and then overcorrected causing him to lose control of the Freightliner tractor with a flatbed log trailer. A detour was put into place, but the roadway wasn’t entirely re-opened until 2:30 p.m., according to the Washington State Patrol. Both were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and the passenger, Ashley N. Webber, 23, has been released but Taylor was treated and then transferred to another hospital, according to a hospital spokesperson.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, driving with no license; responses for suspicious circumstances, possible fraud, unruly teenage girl, collisions on city street … and more.
A traffic camera just south of milepost 88 captures an image of the overturned semi truck and its telephone poles in the southbound lanes.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter