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Updated at 6:12 p.m.
WRECK: BURNING TRUCK IGNITES TREES NEAR PACKWOOD
• A 67-year-old driver who thinks he fell asleep escaped serious injury when he ran off the road and collided with a tree and his truck caught on fire yesterday afternoon near Packwood. A deputy was called about 2:15 p.m. regarding the wreck about three miles up Skate Creek Road South, according to authorities. Lewis County Fire District 10 Chief Lonnie Goble said passersby brought the man into the fire station and told them about the fire. Firefighters found the 2000 Dodge Ram on its side against a tree and flames burning an approximately 50-foot circle around the vehicle. Goble said one tree landed on the back of the truck and six or seven trees partially burned before they got it extinguished. The man, from Graham, was seen by medics at the Packwood fire station for scrapes and told to go see a doctor, according to the fire department and the sheriff’s office. The deputy issued a citation for wheels off the roadway, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.
FIRE BREAKS OUT ATOP TALLEST DRAPER VALLEY TOWER
• Chehalis firefighters climbed to the top of a 138-foot tall tower at the Draper Valley Farms’ plant off West Main Street at State Avenue yesterday for a fire. Crews called about 11:20 a.m. arrived to find workers had already got at it with fire extinguishers and knocked down the flames, but it was still smoldering, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Grain mash had gotten plugged up at the top and the friction with the conveyor belt ignited the materials, Fire Capt. Kevin Curfman said. Curfman and another firefighter carried and then hoisted five-gallon water cans up to finish putting it out. It’s a concern, because any dust can be an explosive hazard, Curfman said. “In fact, years ago they had an explosion there and a gentleman was killed,” he said. The fire department cleared the scene at about 1:30 p.m. The damage was minimal, according to Curfman.
BREAK-IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia police were called about 6:40 p.m. yesterday for a burglary to a home at the 600 block of West Cherry Street. A neighbor had seen two males enter and take items out of the residence, according to the Centralia Police Department. Among the missing valuables were electronics and clothing, according to police.
VANDALISM
• Centralia police called about 12:15 a.m. today to a report someone had pulled out and cut wires to a TV cable box at the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue ended up arresting 31-year-old Adam P. Chapman for third-degree malicious mischief. Chapman had a previous relationship with the resident and was booked into the Lewis County Jail for the alleged domestic incident, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Police were called about 10 a.m. yesterday morning for a report of of a window broken out of an SUV overnight at the 2800 block of Van Dyke Street in Centralia.
AND MORE
• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for drugs, warrants, shoplifting, protection order violation, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, hit and run, vandalism, third-degree theft, suspicious circumstances, telephone harassment, dog alone in hot car, collision on city street, woman who thought her purse might have been stolen from her cart while shopping; request for help removing handcuffs from a child who had been playing with them … and more, among 179 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter