Winlock medical clinic will be rebuilt following fire

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The executive director of Valley View Health Center said this morning it appears a malfunction in the HVAC system ignited the fire that destroyed its Winlock clinic over the weekend.

Steven Clark said the fire investigator is reasonably certain of the cause.

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Courtesy image / Zachary Wichert

“The heating and air conditioning system basically burned it down,” Clark said.

The system had recently been worked on, he said.

Four fire departments responded to the nighttime blaze on the the 600 block of Cemetery Road in Winlock. A passerby called 911 about 2 a.m. on Saturday to report the fire.

Lewis County Fire District 15 described the single-story building as a total loss, with its roof already collapsing as they arrived.

Clark said he’s positive they will rebuild.

Valley View Health Center, based in Chehalis, has numerous clinics in Lewis County and the surrounding area.

They will soon begin looking for temporary quarters for the Winlock location, Clark said.

In the meantime, the one provider and four support staff will move down to the Toledo clinic and see their patients there, he said.

Patients who have already scheduled appointments in Winlock should just keep their same appointment, but do it at the Toledo clinic, Clark said.

It’s located at 117 Ramsey Way in Toledo. Patients can call 360-864-4400 with questions, Clark said.

Update: On the morning of Wednesday Nov. 2, Toledo Police Department Chief John Brockmueller said their part of the investigation is finished and confirmed the fire appeared to have begun in the heat pump outside the building. The insurance company will take over, he indicated.
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For background, read “News brief: Overnight fire claims Winlock doctors’ office” from Saturday October 29, 2016, here

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 31st, 2016 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Winlock medical clinic will be rebuilt following fire”

  1. Sherman says:
    Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 2:35 pm

    http://www.nvfc.org/firefighter-arson/

  2. BobbyinLC says:
    Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 1:55 am

    Interesting how the executive director knows the cause of the fire. I think it would be best of we heard from the fire investigators how they think it started.