Flames spreading through freshly cut hay are extinguished in Winlock. / Courtesy photo by Patrick Jacobson
FIRE WEATHER IS UPON US
• Firefighters from three departments responded yesterday afternoon when fire broke out during a haying operation on the 500 block of Jones Road west of Winlock. They found a portion of the field of freshly cut hay burning – an area of approximately 300 feet by 300 feet – and a crew trying to keep the rest of it from being consumed, according to Lewis County Fire District 15. “I believe it happened from probably the exhaust from a tractor,” Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Anderson said. A small breeze tried to push it into a timber patch that had been logged probably two or so years ago, he said. Anderson said it was extinguished after about an hour and a half.
• Exceptionally dry weather and extreme fire danger means public access to more private timberlands is shut down temporarily. The Columbia Tree Farm, located near Morton, Riffe Lake, Swift Reservoir and north and south of Raymond is among those closed likely through the summer, Olympic Resource Management, a Pope Resources company, announced yesterday.
BARN BURGLED
• A 33-year-old Centralia area man called the sheriff’s office about 7:30 p.m. yesterday after discovering his barn door broken and his welder and bike missing. The resident of the 100 block of Goodrich Road said he’d been in there the night before and they were there, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The bike is described as a Fetish Cycles road bicycle with a white frame and a Nascar sticker. The loss is listed at $1,400, according to the sheriff’s office.
BURGLARY CENTRALIA
• Centralia police yesterday morning responded a burglary at the 1200 block of Alder Street and ended up arrested Jacob D. Holmgren. The 25-year-old Centralia resident was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
FRAUD IN CENTRALIA
• Police were called about 9:30 a.m. yesterday regarding fraudulent charges on a bank account, associated with a location at the 2000 block of Borst Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.
CAR PROWL
• Chehalis police were called about 11 o’clock yesterday morning regarding a vehicle prowl at Northeast Hampe Way.
DOG FIGHT
• A Mineral man was bit on the thumb when he tried to break up a dog fight that occurred as he and his leashed service dog came out of the Headquarters Tavern in Mineral last night, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy responding about 8:15 p.m. to the 100 block of Front Street learned from the 44-year-old a loose pit bull mix attacked his 3-year-old Malamute, according to the sheriff’s office. The owner of the suspect dog, a 36-year-old Mineral resident, was issued an infraction for prohibited activities by animals because the incident occurred off his dog’s property, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. The malamute sustained three puncture wounds on its front leg, Brown said.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, drugs, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, disorderly person, threats on Facebook, missing TV remote, toddler sounding child calling 911, a vehicle without a placard parked in a handicap space; questions about possibly having purchased stolen goods, wondering if its okay to grow marijuana in a backyard … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter