Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

Suspicious: Barn burns to the ground in Mossyrock

Thursday, September 11th, 2014

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Mossyrock firefighters were called last night to a structure fire just west of town, the third fire in the area in three weeks.

They found a large 1920s-era barn fully engulfed in flames, its roof already collapsed, Lewis County Fire District 3 Chief Doug Fosburg said. Investigators are looking into the cause, he said.

The department was toned out at 10:20 p.m. to the hayfield just south of the intersection at Mossyrock Road West and Aldrich Road, he said.

“We had two tenders from District 8 that supported us,” he said. “We were there until about 2:30 this morning.”

Nobody was injured. The metal-roofed barn contained old hay and various pieces of haying equipment. There also was an old John Deere combine inside, he said.

“The hay is still burning, we’re working on getting that out now,” Fosburg said just before noon.

The owner of the property lives elsewhere, he said.

The Department of Natural Resources responded today, because of two recent small fires that occurred in the tree-line on the north side of the property, he said.

It’s suspicious and the county fire investigator is in touch with the sheriff’s office, he said.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

MIGHT BE A FULL MOON

• A 29-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday afternoon  after jumping out in front of cars on the 1200 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia and allegedly threatening to kill people, according to the Centralia Police Department. Jason R. Ferris was booked into the Lewis County Jail for disorderly conduct after an approximately 4 p.m. contact with officers, according to police.

• A 42-year-old man was subdued with a Taser by police who were called about 7 p.m. yesterday for a belligerent patient who became combative at the 900 block of South Schueber Road in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. Michael M Slifer, 42 of Centralia, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for disorderly conduct and interfering with a health care facility, according to police.

• Chehalis police responded to the Lewis County Law and Justice Center parking lot about 3:45 p.m. yesterday about a man standing outside a car yelling at the woman inside of it, who then allegedly grabbed a hold of the partially rolled down window causing it to break. An officer contacted Terry R. Strong inside the building where he was conducting business and arrested him for malicious mischief and disorderly conduct. It was his car, police said. Because it was a domestic violence incident, Strong was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

THEFT

• Chehalis police were called yesterday evening about the theft of a package delivered to a home on Southwest 11th Street.

• Centralia police were called to the 500 block of South Tower Avenue about 4:15 p.m. yesterday regarding a DVD player stolen from inside a vehicle.

• Chehalis police were called about 10:45 p.m. yesterday by an individual who said he tracked his stolen iPhone to a location on Southwest Fourth Street. Further details were not readily available, but detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said even though the GPS can get close to the location of a phone, it’s not definitive enough to a particular address to allow for police to search there. The owner of the phone disabled it so it couldn’t be used, WIlson said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting; responses for counterfeit money, suspicious circumstances, children left alone in parked vehicles, a nighttime request for help when a bat got inside a Chehalis home and reportedly was flying laps in a bedroom while the caller sought refuge in the bathroom … and more.

Lewis County Historic Courthouse now officially “historic”

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014
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Lewis County Historic Courthouse / Courtesy photo

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A celebration will be held today in honor of the Lewis County Courthouse’s inclusion on the state and national registers of historic places.

The three-story building at 351 NW North Street in Chehalis was built in 1926 and 1927 and earned the two distinctions this summer.

An open house will run from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m., with county employees dressed in period attire. Tours are available.

The structure that encompasses the city block on the north side of Main Street no longer houses any courtrooms – just various county departments – and is referred to as the Historic Courthouse.

Lewis County District Court and Lewis County Superior Court occupy the third and fourth floors of the brick building on the south side of Main Street, the Lewis County Law and Justice Center.

Oakville woman, infant, survive car wreck, fire

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 21-year-old woman is listed in fair condition this morning after her car drifted off U.S. Highway 12 near Oakville, headed into a ditch, rolled onto its side and then struck a tree before catching fire.

She and a six-month-old baby left the vehicle before it caught fire, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Troopers called just before 2 a.m. to the area near Blockhouse Road describe the Toyota Scion as totaled.

Monica R. Lopez and the infant girl, both from Oakville, were taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the state patrol. The baby was not injured, but transported as a precautionary measure, according to the investigating trooper.

The state patrol concluded Lopez had been traveling westbound and fell asleep at the wheel. She was to be issued a citation for second-degree negligent driving.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

Updated

TVS FROM RVS

• Chehalis police responded about 5 o’clock this morning when an employee at a business on the 1000 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue alerted by an alarm said they saw two people standing outside the gate. A hole was discovered cut in the back fence and a television on the ground inside the fence at Uhlmann RV, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A man and a woman from Longview were arrested, according to police. Booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary were Donald R. Brown, 42, and Christina M. Ziesmer, 32, according to police.

MOSSY HOME BROKE INTO

• Police reported yesterday they are investigating a residential burglary in Mossyrock at the 400 block of James Street in which someone got inside by removing an air conditioning unit from a window. Unspecified electronic devices were stolen between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, according to the Morton Police Department.

CHURCH BURGLARY

• Someone burglarized a church in the 100 block of Coleman Road in Mossyrock, a break-in that was reported to police last Wednesday evening. Missing is an electronic drum module and a sound mixer with speakers, according to the Morton Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• A Centralia officer was called about 10:30 yesterday morning to a report a stereo was taken from a vehicle at the 1300 block of Oxford Avenue.

PLATE PILFERED

• Centralia police were called to the 1800 block of Collision Street about 9:10 a.m. yesterday about a stolen license plate.

PEACEFUL PROTEST

• As many as 40 people gathered near the Hamilton sign next to Interstate 5 at Napavine yesterday morning for what Napavine Police Chief Chris Salyers described as a very non-violent protest. Salyers said he was summoned to the area off exit 72 only because a trooper who had gone there wasn’t answering the radio. They hung a large sign that had something to do with trans-gender health care and boycotting coal trains, he said. No one was arrested, he said, and they eventually left.

WOOD MILL CATCHES FIRE IN WINLOCK

• A star-gazing neighbor who caught sight of flames last night, called 911 and drove over to alert the resident-owner of a wood mill north of Winlock. “Fire District 5 was first on the scene and they were able to get a line on it and suppress it pretty quickly before it spread,” Lewis County Fire District 15 Assistant Chief Kevin Anderson said. It happened while she was photographing the moon about 11:15 p.m. Firefighters responded from Winlock, Toledo and Napavine to the 2200 block of Highway 603, near Anterim Road, according to Anderson. Damaged was one wall and one piece of equipment, he said. A fire investigator came out and it appears the fire could have started because the owner was welding earlier in the day, and something may have been smoldering, he said.

AIRLIFT FROM ONY

• An 18-year-old Onalaska resident who fell asleep behind the wheel was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle last night after his pickup truck crossed the centerline, struck a bridge and then went backwards over an embankment. The Dodge Dakota was totaled. It happened about 8:25 p.m. on the 200 block of Krueger Road in Onalaska, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said his 18-year-old passenger was uninjured. The driver was to be issued a citation for second-degree negligent driving, according to Brown.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, shoplifting,  misdemeanor theft, misdemeanor assault, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street … and more.

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The 1992 Dodge Dakota after its driver’s side impacted a bridge. / Courtesy photo by Annaliese Collins-Mitten

News brief: Mineral timber fire still burns

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014
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Smoke rises from hillside across from Mineral Lake. /Courtesy photo by Moira J. Thomas-Fisk McCreery

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Some 55 personnel worked the Mineral area wildfire today which has made its way into mature timber but a couple days of work still remain, according to a spokesperson from the state Department of Natural Resources.

At mid-day, the scorched area was measured at about six acres and the fire 25 percent contained, spokesperson Nick Cronquist of DNR said.

Lewis County Fire District 9 Chief Kevin Mounce said it was about 6 p.m. on Sunday when he looked out a window and saw smoke rising from just to the northwest of the Mineral Lake Lodge, in a clearcut on private property.

Carolyn McKelvie who owns and operates the lodge said it was about that same time she smelled smoke and checked every room in her building.

“My guests had just had a wedding and were down at the lake,” McKelvie said. “They saw flames and came running up the hill.”

The lodge is on the 100 block of Mineral Hill Road across the street from the lake.

The fire came less than a quarter mile from her place but crews have built a large fire break to protect it, McKelvie said today.

Mounce called upon fellow fire departments in Glenoma and Morton to assist and then DNR arrived about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. He turned the scene over to the state agency, he said.

DNR dealt with the fire overnight and yesterday morning it flared up and grew, he said.

“The winds came up around 9:30 or 10 and it started taking off on us then,” Mounce said.

DNR brought in two helicopters yesterday which dropped water on the flames for much of the day, according to Mounce. The terrain is described as very steep.

Today, DNR utilized three hand crews, three engines and a dozer, according to Cronquist. The helicopters remain on standby.

This afternoon, Cronquist characterized the spread potential as very low.

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Two helicopters use water from Mineral Lake to suppress fire across the road on Monday. / Courtesy photo by Carolyn McKelvie

Portland resident hurt while base jumping south of Randle

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014
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Rescuers tend to injured base jumper below Tower Rock outside of Randle. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 14

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 38-year-old Portland man was seriously injured when his parachute didn’t fully deploy as he base jumped from a 3,300 foot tall rock in the forest miles south of Randle yesterday.

A witness saw the man hit the rock wall several times on the way down before disappearing into the timber, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The Randle Fire Department was called about 11:45 a.m., hiked the steep terrain and reached the patent by 2 p.m., according to Fire Chief Jeff Jaques.

His two friends had hiked to the base of the mountain where they found him bleeding, with multiple fractures to his lower legs, the sheriff’s office reports. One had hiked out to call 911.

Jaques reports the patient was conscious.

A U.S. Navy helicopter from Whidbey Island responded to hoist the jumper, according to the sheriff’s office.

He was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Jaques reports his injuries were serious. Sheriff’s Office Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown reports he was critical.

Tower Rock is located in the Cispus Valley near the Cispus Environmental Center.

The rescue effort included members of Lewis County Fire District 14, Lewis County Search and Rescue, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Airlift Northwest personnel and two volunteers from the CIspus Learning Center.

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Tower Rock south of Randle. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.