By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A garage and shop in the Toledo area was destroyed by fire yesterday but the adjacent house spared.
Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank said the blaze on the 500 block of Toledo-Salmon Creek Road was reported by more than one person. “You could see the smoke from three miles away,” he said.
He was on the scene within four minutes of the 4:39 p.m. call but the detached building was already fully involved in flames, Wiltbank said. The single-story home was just 10 to 12 feet away from the fire, he said.
“Basically, we got there in the nick of time,” he said. “About one more minute and it would have got the house, so we saved the house.”
The occupants were not at home.
Eleven firefighters from Toledo, Winlock and Vader responded and used compressed air foam on the double-car garage used also as a shop, he said.
Inside, and also destroyed, was an ice cream truck he described as about the size of a golf cart and some appliances, Wiltbank said.
A fire investigator is looking into the cause.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter