Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Firefighters and police spent as much as three hours last night retrieving a man who got caught by darkness walking Olequa Creek in Winlock.

Firefighters were called about 11:20 p.m. to assist law enforcement in locating a person who was unable to get out of the woods and had made a small signal fire, according to Lewis County Fire District 15.

He had been on Tennessee Road and was walking the creek and it got dark, Firefighter Patrick Jacobson said. The man, in his 40s, didn’t have a flashlight with him.

The area was northwest of the bridge near the 1400 block of Kerron Street, according to Jacobson.

Four fire department personnel and two police officers took part in the effort.

“We went into the woods just north of the bridge, hiked up and around and came back down to him,” Jacobson said. “We were able to walk him out the way he came in.”

The terrain was such, the rescuers couldn’t always see the small fire the man had lit, so Toledo Police Department Sgt. Sam Patrick launched a drone and hovered it above the man’s location, Jacobson said.

“We were able to see the drone, and use that for a visual reference,” he said.

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.

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.

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.

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.