CENTRALIA HOUSE CATCHES FIRE
• Firefighters were greeted by heavy flames and a large column of smoke when called to a house fire just before 8 o’clock this morning at the 400 block of North Buckner Street in Centralia. The occupants had evacuated and crews were able to make a pretty quick knockdown on the outside before the entering the home, Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Casey McCarthy said. It apparently had been burning for a little while, McCarthy said. He described the damage as extensive on the backside exterior of the single-story wood-frame house. The cause is under investigation, McCarthy said. No injuries were reported. Update 10 a.m. Sunday December 11, 2010: Centralia police report the fire appears to have been caused by a generator being operated on the back porch.
NAPAVINE-AREA MOBILE HOME FIRE
• A mobile home fire west of Napavine yesterday displaced a family but no injuries were reported. Lewis County Fire District 5 was called about 11:30 a.m. to Peaceful Lane where a woman had returned home and noticed smoke, according to Fire Lt. Laura Hanson. The fire was confined to a bedroom but there was also smoke damage, Hanson said. The family won’t be able to stay there, she said.
DRUGS
• A former longtime worker at Maple Lane juvenile detention facility for boys in in Grand Mound was arrested in Centralia last night with suspected methamphetamine in his coat pocket. Gary A. Lohr, 65, said it wasn’t his coat, according to the Centralia Police Department. It happened around 8 p.m. on the 400 block of North Buckner Street, according to police. An officer observed Lohr driving a vehicle with expired license tabs and Lohr reportedly parked, got into a different vehicle and left, according to Centralia police. He was stopped and arrested for driving with a suspended license, and then for possession of methamphetamine, police reported. Lohr was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• A 36-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver early Thursday morning at the 500 block of Jackson Street in Centralia. Albert L. Brown was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
THEFT
• Police were called yesterday morning about $400 getting stolen from a locker at a gym on the 2000 block of Borst Avenue in Centralia.
• Police were called about a burglary at the 1000 block of Marsh Avenue in Centralia on Wednesday morning.
• Centralia police took a report on Thursday of a vehicle prowl at the 300 block of West Chestnut Street. It had occurred overnight and a CD player was missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.
VANDALISM
• Centralia police took a report yesterday that someone spray painted a fence on the 100 block of East Roanoke Street.
• Gang-style graffiti was reported found on the back of a garage on the 300 block of South Diamond Street in Centralia on Thursday morning, according to police.
• Chehalis police were called Thursday morning to Southwest McFadden Avenue about graffiti on a garage.
• Police were called Wednesday morning to Washington Elementary School on the 800 block of Field Avenue in Centralia about graffiti that showed up on the walls of the school, according to the Centralia Police Department. It didn’t appear to be gang-related, police said.
WRECK
• A 19-year-old Chehalis driver escaped serious injury when she apparently hit some ice, ran into a ditch and rolled her car on the 400 block of Highway 603 near Chehalis, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday. It happened late Thursday afternoon, the sheriff’s office said. Her 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier was described as totaled.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter