Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Saturday, March 12th, 2016
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Driver and dog were both uninjured. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 6.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Firefighters called to a two-vehicle collision just before 6 p.m. yesterday at state Route 6 near Chilvers Road found only a Jeep on its side occupied by the driver and a dog. The patient was uninjured but needed help getting out, according to Lewis County Fire District 6. Firefighter Mike Goodwillie said they cut out the windshield to extricate her.

• Officers responded yesterday to an approximately 2:50 p.m. report of a vehicle verses pedestrian traffic collision at the 400 block of South Silver Street in Centralia. The victim was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital for minor injuries, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Officers arrested David Serano Moss, 21, when he drove to the Centralia Police Department about 7 o’clock this morning and officers knew he was required to have an interlock device and that his driver’s license was suspended. He was cited and then released, according to police.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 7:40 a.m. yesterday to the 900 block of G Street where they learned that sometime since the evening before,  someone broke out the driver’s side window of a truck while it was parked and unoccupied.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, driving with suspended license, providing false information to police officer, driving under the under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, malicious mischief, collision on city street … and more, among 136 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

Onalaska resident found unresponsive on remote Utah road

Friday, March 11th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 72-year-old Onalaska man overdue on a trip home from Arizona was found nearly unconscious laying on a remote road in southwestern Utah and is recovering from hypothermia.

Iron County Sheriff Mark Gower said he now knows the man had recently been diagnosed with Ahlzheimers and had been traveling from Congress, Arizona back to Washington.

It was about 8 a.m. on Wednesday when employees with the water conservation district came across a Jeep abandoned in the middle of the road, west of Cedar City, Utah, Gower said.

About a mile farther, they found him, unresponsive and cold, shirtless and shoeless, he said. Temperatures had dipped into the mid-20s that night, he said.

Deputies and then an ambulance responded and took him to an area hospital, he said.

“When they got him there, his core temperature was 82 degrees, which is very cold,” he said.

The sheriff didn’t release the man’s name, but said family has traveled to Utah to be with him.

“He is going to make it,” Gower said this afternoon.

The sheriff’s office tracked down his family from papers either on the patient or in his vehicle, he said. The family had been trying to track him by his bank card use, he said.

Gower said he wasn’t sure what if any agency took a missing person report.

“I guess he had a cell phone, but he was not answering,” he said.

Sheriff Gower said the thanks belong to the employees of the water district.

Gower said he’s been with the sheriff’s office over 25 years, and worked several similar cases.

“Most of the time they end more tragic than this,” he said. “We usually find them after it’s too late.”

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, March 11th, 2016
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•••

AUTO THEFT

• A car that was stolen on Wednesday in Centralia was found yesterday afternoon abandoned in a parking lot in the case associated with the 1800 block of North Pearl Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

STOLEN FIREARM

• Centralia police were called about 4:40 p.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of Woodland Avenue to take a report of the theft of a Hi-Point 9mm carbine rifle from the residence.

BURGLARY CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police were called to the 1500 block of North National Avenue about 5:15 p.m. yesterday to take a report of a suspected burglary. There were no signs of forced entry, but the victim noted two DVDs missing as well as clothing moved around, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

SCHOOL ISSUE

• Chehalis police were called just before 1 p.m. yesterday to the 300 block of Southwest 16th Street about a 15-year-old girl who may have been under the influence of marijuana. The school is following its suspension protocol and information was forwarded to juvenile prosecutors, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, suicidal person, runaway juvenile, parking issues … and more, among 164 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 6:30 a.m. today.

Centralia fire investigation continues, victims positively ID’d

Thursday, March 10th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County coroner today said he has positively identified the three children from Friday’s house fire on Ham Hill Road in Centralia.

He released their names: Benjamin D. Tower, 12; Madeline R. Tower, 10; and Samuel J. Tower, 7.

They were students at Washington Elementary School and Edison Elementary School in Centralia.

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•••

While he doesn’t have any reason to think they died from anything other then the house fire, Coroner Warren McLeod said, it will be awhile before he can make the official determination on the cause of their deaths.

Autopsies have been performed but his conclusions can’t be made until after further studies as well as seeing the results of toxicology tests, according to McLeod.

It can take between eight and 14 weeks to get lab results back, according to the coroner’s office.

Authorities have said the youngsters were sleeping upstairs in the split-level home while their mother was sleeping on the main floor. She was among those who phoned 911 at about 12:45 a.m.

Efforts by the mother, by a police officer and by two firefighters to rescue them were unsuccessful because of the smoke, flames and intense heat.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Centralia Police Department detective Sgt. Carl Buster said the process can sometimes take months.

Riverside Fire Authority Assistant Chief Rick Mack, who is also the lead investigator, has said they narrowed the origin down to the area of the living room, a few feet from the front door.

The tragedy follows by just over a year a nighttime residential fire in Winlock that claimed three lives.

The family had been sleeping in the two-story house on  Northeast First Street and when the father and two boys headed out the door, the mother and girls were right behind him, but didn’t make it outside.

Samantha Koehler, 31, and her two daughters Bethany Cuvreau, 4, and Tabitha Cuvreau, 2, died of smoke inhalation on February 26, 2015.

•••

For background, read “Heavy hearts as family loses three in Centralia house fire” from Friday March 4, 2016, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, March 10th, 2016
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•••

MULTIPLE FIREARMS STOLEN FROM HOME

• Sometime between 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. yesterday someone burglarized a residence on the 700 block of Bunker Creek Road west of Chehalis and stole nine rifles and shotguns as well as binoculars, a laptop computer and cash, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $7,640, according to the sheriff’s office. The case is under investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.

SHED ENTERED

• Centralia police were called at 8:30 p.m. yesterday to the 600 block of South Pearl Street where a shed had been broken into. It is unknown if anything is missing at this time, police reported this morning.

AUTO THEFT

• A blue 1999 Honda Civic was reported stolen just before 9 a.m. yesterday from the 500 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia. It has a license plate reading AME 4034, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called about 7:45 a.m. yesterday to the 900 block of B Street about a vehicle which was stolen. The victim spotted the car half a block away and was able to provide a suspect description, according to the Centralia Police Department. The suspect fled on foot, but was picked up by a second suspect so car was recovered, according to police.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Someone broke the window of a car parked at the 1400 block of Johnson Road in Centralia and stole the stereo, according to a report made to police about 8 a.m. yesterday.

• Chehalis police were called just before 8 a.m. yesterday to a car prowl on the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue. Sometime during the night someone entered the unlocked vehicle, rummaged around and stole a stereo and a wallet with credit cards, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Another prowl was reported on the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue yesterday, from an unlocked vehicle. The back seat was removed to gain access to the trunk and a knife set was missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

STUDENT, TEACHER, TUSSLE

• An 11-year-old boy was arrested at Winlock Middle-High School yesterday because he allegedly struck a teacher in the leg after he had run outside and was stopped by teachers and escorted back inside. The student had been separated from his class during lunch for being disruptive and at one point took off running, through the principal’s office and out a side door, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies called to the 200 block of North Military Road took the boy into custody for fourth-degree assault and booked him in to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, vandalism, disorderly person, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street … and more, among 125 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 6:10 a.m. today.

News brief: Elderly motorist injured in SR 7 wreck

Thursday, March 10th, 2016

Updated at 11:30 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An 82-year-old driver whose car collided head-on with a Kenworth septic truck yesterday afternoon near Morton was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Troopers called about 2:50 p.m. to the scene found the Honda Accord totaled.

It happened on state Route 7, three miles north of Morton, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The state patrol reports Janet A. Morgan, 82, from Eatonville, was headed northbound when her car crossed the center line. She was listed in serious condition this morning.

The driver of the truck, Matthew P. Calvert, 27, from Onalaska, reportedly was unhurt.

Both had been wearing their seat belts, according to the state patrol.

Earlier in the day also in East Lewis County, a Morton resident died and his passenger was flown to Harborview after a single-vehicle wreck on state Route 508. Lloyd L. Wakeman, 35, from Centralia, remains hospitalized, but his condition this morning was not available.

News brief: One hurt, one dead after Cinebar crash

Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

Updated at 6:06 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

One person is dead and another seriously injured following a single-vehicle crash on state Route 508 near Cinebar.

Firefighters called just after 10 o’clock this morning found a pickup truck in the ditch with significant front end damage, according to Lewis County Fire District 3 Chief Doug Fosburg.

“The driver was the fatality, the passenger was airlifted to Harborview,” Fosburg said.

Fosburg said it was about two miles east of Justus Road. The state Department of Transportation reported the collision was at milepost 20.9 near Studhalter Road.

The Washington State Patrol is investigating. The eastbound lane was blocked until almost 1:30 p.m.

The state patrol this afternoon reports that Daniel D. Steig, 73, of Morton, was headed eastbound when his Dodge Ram pickup drifted off the shoulder into the ditch and struck the embankment.

Steig was deceased at the scene. His passenger Lloyd L. Wakeman, 35, from Centralia, was injured.

Wakeman had been wearing a seatbelt, but Steig was not, according to the state patrol.