News brief: House fires stopped before homes destroyed in Chehalis, Randle

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters were called to a structure fire on Saturday afternoon at a home on Pine Drive, west of Chehalis.

Furniture in the living room had caught fire and extended into the walls and the ceiling, according to the fire investigator.

The mother awoke from a nap to find the smoke level was halfway down to the floor, fire investigator Jay Birley said today of the 3:45 p.m. call.

“She grabbed the two kids and got out,” Birley said.

There was quite a bit of smoke damage in the living room area, he said. The cause is still under investigation.

Lewis County Fire Districts 6 and 5 just an hour earlier, had been called out to a kitchen fire at a double-wide mobile home on Chehalis Valley Drive.

The resident had extinguished a grease fire on the stove, but later heard popping noises and called the fire department, Birley said. Fire had gotten into the ventilation duct and into the attic.

Birley estimated about $5,000 damage to that home.

Birley also said today a Wednesday fire at a residence in Randle was believed to have started in a light fixture in a bathroom.

A resident of the double-wide mobile home on Kelly Lane doused the flames with a garden hose as best he could, but flames got into the ceiling and the attic, according to Birley.

The resident’s phone wouldn’t work, so he ran to a neighbor’s home to call 911 about 12:50 a.m., Birley said. About half the attic there was damaged, he said.

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