Posts Tagged ‘news reporter’

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, August 6th, 2017
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Updated

U.S. 12 CLOSED FOR MOTORCYCLE WRECK

• Two motorcyclists were knocked from their bikes when one rear-ended the other which was slowing to turn off of U.S. Highway 12 about two miles west of Mossyrock earlier today. Troopers were called about 11:20 a.m. and report both were injured. Sheila G. Short, 52, from Ocean Shores, was taken by LifeFlight to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the Washington State Patrol. Bruce E. Bratton, 66, of Quilcene, was not transported, according to the state patrol. They had been traveling westbound when Bratton slowed to turn onto Village Road and he was struck from behind by Short, according to the patrol. The Harley Davidsons were removed by private tow. The scene was not cleared until about 1:40 p.m. The investigating trooper indicates Short was to be cited for following too closely.

ASSAULT

• A male of unspecified age was transported to the hospital with an injury to his face following a dispute just before midnight yesterday at the 100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. As of this morning, a suspect had not been identified, but the incident is being investigated as second-degree assault, according to police.

• A 30-year-old Chehalis woman was arrested for third-degree assault in a case on Friday morning associated with the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Kendra C. Comfort was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

PARCEL PILFERING

• Centralia police were called regarding the theft of a package from a porch on the 1300 block of Logan Street about 1:20 p.m. on Friday.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called just before 9 a.m. yesterday for a vehicle prowl at the 100 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia. A purse was taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called to the 1500 block of Lewis Street in Centralia for a vehicle prowl about 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Someone forced open a sliding window to gain access and stole power tools, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Someone forced their way into someone else’s vehicle at the 900 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia and took a purse, according to a report made to police about 8:20 p.m. on Friday.

LOST AND FOUND, URBAN RESCUE

• Firefighters were called to Stan Hedwall Park in Chehalis about 5 p.m. yesterday to help a man who got stuck in the sticker bushes. He stays at the park in the summertime and decided to take a shortcut back from the river, in his bare feet and got confused, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. He got stuck in a hole and had been there for about a half hour, Fire Capt. Casey Beck said. The crew talked him out of his predicament, gave him Gatorade, granola bars and an extra pair of shoes one of the firefighters happened to have, Beck said.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A sedan backing out of a parking spot in downtown Chehalis yesterday evening somehow accelerated enough to collide with at least two vehicles parked on the other side of the street, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Firefighters called to the 400 block of North Market Boulevard about 6:30 p.m. said the driver was injured and taken to the hospital but his elderly passenger was unhurt.

• A motorist was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital in stable condition after a rollover wreck that involved a utility pole and power lines pulled down on state Route 508 near Hyak Road in Onalaska yesterday afternoon. Lewis County Fire District 1 was called at 3:31 p.m. found the driver had gotten himself out of the Chevrolet S-10 pickup and was being tended to by nearby residents, according to Assistant Fire Chief Rhonda Volk. Light smoke was showing from brush where power lines landed, according to Volk. The highway was restricted to one lane of travel for two and a half hours because of the live lines on the road.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for drugs, warrants, hit and run, attempt to elude, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, suspicious circumstances, vehicle collision … and more among 370 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 48-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

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Chevrolet S-10 pickup after it’s turned upright again. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1

News brief: Window broken, man gravely hurt in downtown Centralia

Saturday, August 5th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia resident in his mid- to late- 20s suffered a life-threatening laceration when he reportedly punched a plate glass window downtown last night.

Centralia police had been breaking up a dispute involving dozens of people behind the two bars on South Tower Avenue when they heard the sound of glass breaking just to the north, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Police Sgt. Kurt Reichert said he understood the man cut an artery, an officer put a tourniquet on his arm and medics came.

It happened on the 100 block of North Tower Avenue at Nyholm’s appliance store, just before 1:30 a.m., Reichert said.

The patient was transported to the hospital by ambulance, according to police. Further details weren’t readily available.

Reichert said nobody was arrested at the bar fight and he didn’t know what it or the laceration victim’s upset was about.

“I would hazard a guess, alcohol was involved,” he said.

News brief: Employee airlifted after tangling with large forklift

Saturday, August 5th, 2017

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A worker who just got off shift at National Frozen Foods in Chehalis was struck and seriously injured by a forklift overnight.

Both police and firefighters responded to the call about 3:15 a.m. to the plant at Northwest State Avenue and West Street, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

“Police got there first and applied a tourniquet to his leg,” Fire Capt. Ted McCarty said.

The man was conscious, but suffered a severe injury to his left leg, McCarty. He said it was one of the large forklifts and he believed the worker was hit by a rear wheel.

The 31-year-old Centralia man was transported to the Chehalis Airport and flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment, according to authorities.

National Frozen Foods processes corn, carrots and peas in Chehalis, according to information from the company’s website.

News brief: Train hits man on tracks in Tenino

Saturday, August 5th, 2017
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Law enforcement investigates railroad fatality. / Courtesy photos by Thurston County Sheriff’s Office

Updated at 1:32 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A pedestrian was struck and killed by a freight train about a half mile south of Tenino late yesterday afternoon.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said it happened approximately 5 p.m. near the 16800 block of Old Highway 99.

The southbound locomotive had been blowing its horn for one-eighth of a mile and went into emergency braking but the man was slow to respond, according to authorities.

He was unable to clear the tracks and was hit by the train, sheriff’s Sgt. Carla Carter stated in a press release.

Carter described him as a 30-year-old white male from Tacoma, but did not release his name.

The death is under investigation. The line was shut down for one and a half hours, delaying six trains, according to BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas.

Melonas said it was the 13th railroad trespasser fatality in Washington this year.

News brief: Total burn ban starts at the end of the weekend

Friday, August 4th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Recreational campfires are prohibited starting at 12:01 a.m. on  Monday in unincorporated Lewis County, and the city of Centralia, given the arrival of the most dangerous fire weather of the season.

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If you want to roast marshmallows or cook out of doors, you can still do that as long as it takes place inside a propane or liquid gas barbecuer or camp stove that has an on-off switch. No charcoal briquettes.

Wildfire danger is high in Lewis County and most of Western Washington and even higher in the majority of Eastern Washington.

Campfires are still okay at state parks in Lewis County as long as they are in approved pits in designated campgrounds. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest has not banned them.

Centralia and Lewis County both put out announcements today indicating they realize the prohibition could alter people’s recreational plans, but the decisions reflect a priority of public safety and the protection of property.

The city of Centralia says: “This decision is made in consideration of the already increased risk of rapid fire development from dry seasonal conditions and the absence of rain in the long-range weather forecasts.”

Both government entities state they will make public announcements when they decide to lift the prohibition.

Fire officials and others strongly urge all residents and property owners to be attentive to the conditions of their properties through proactive fire prevention measures.

The county in mid-July banned outdoor burning of brush piles.

DNR looking into origin of large Grand Mound fire

Thursday, August 3rd, 2017
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Arial view of Kuper Court. / Courtesy photo by Chief Robert Scott

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The cause of the fire that swept through more than 30 acres of tall grass and at least one grove of trees in Grand Mound is being investigated by the state Department of Natural Resources.

Firefighters called at 3:56 p.m. yesterday to the area of 201st Avenue Southwest and Kuper Court managed to stop the fast-moving flames just behind a row of numerous houses, but a garage and two outbuildings were lost, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

Residents on Dakota Court were asked to evacuate, Fire Chief Robert Scott said.

WTRFA was joined by eight neighboring fire departments and DNR with approximately 100 firefighters battling the blaze. One DNR firefighter suffered a minor hand laceration.

Scott said today it appeared to be human caused, but said DNR is responsible for the investigation and he didn’t have any details.

Photos taken by the chief show charred wood fencing and curled vinyl siding on the backs of some houses.

It was just two days earlier the same fire department tackled a three-acre brush fire a couple of miles to the northwest, where a pump house burned but they managed to save a dozen homes.

The first wave of firefighters were relieved about 9 p.m. and personnel with DNR stayed overnight, he said. They are continuing mop up today.

Scott said the department stands prepared in case anything else breaks out during the next few hot days, but residents would be well served to help themselves, ahead of time.

He advises people to create defensible space around their homes, clearing away anything combustible from near their houses.

“You don’t think about it much, this side of the state,” he said.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, August 3rd, 2017
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PURCHASE GOES SIDEWAYS

• A convenience store customer reportedly annoyed to be asked for identification when she wanted to buy tobacco allegedly threw a cup of fountain pop onto a clerk and subsequently punched another clerk yesterday afternoon in Chehalis. Police were called about 3:10 p.m. to the 100 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue and eventually arrested Ruby L. Pulley, 25, of Sacramento, California, for two counts of fourth-degree assault, according to the Chehalis Police Department. One of her companions wanted on an outstanding warrant was arrested as well and both were booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

AUTO THEFT

• Police were called at 1:14 a.m. today after the owner of a red Honda hatchback awoke to the sound of his car starting up and driving off from the 200 block of South Diamond Street in Centralia.

OTHER THEFT

• Centralia police were called at 7:59 a.m. yesterday on a report of a theft discovered during the review of surveillance video at the 1200 block of Mellen Street.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called at 12:02 a.m. today about a vehicle prowl at the 2200 block of Eureka Avenue in Centralia. Car stereo speakers were missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A case involving a 35-year-old Centralia resident allegedly caught with a stolen tablet and Bluetooth speaker taken from a vehicle prowl was referred to prosecutors yesterday to be evaluated for a charge of second-degree theft, according to the Centralia Police Department. A wallet with money and credit cards was missing the same prowl in the last night associated with the 1000 block of L Street, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called to the 700 block of F Street just after 1 p.m. yesterday regarding the egging and a window broken on a vehicle.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD, IN THE ROAD

• A bicycle rider sustained what police described as a moderate injury when he came off a sidewalk in front of a Ford Focus at West Main and King streets in Centralia just before noon yesterday. Riverside Fire Authority states via Twitter a 49-year-old man was transported in stable condition to Providence Centralia Hospital.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespassing, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, probation violation, malicious mischief, driving without required ignition interlock; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, disorderly person, third-degree theft, suspicious circumstances, vehicle collision, dog alone inside parked vehicle, three juveniles caught in private swimming pools, unknown person found sleeping on someone else’s front porch … and more among 166 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.