Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

July 27th, 2010

STABBING SUSPECT RELEASED WITH NO CHARGES

• The 19-year-old Centralia resident arrested Friday night for allegedly stabbing a 25-year-old Centralia man was released from the Lewis County Jail this morning without being charged. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday the two males got into a fight at a party on the the 200 block of Blanchard Road prompted by a fight between two females. It was a gathering of about 50 people. The victim, whose name was not released, was hospitalized and treated for four knife wounds to his abdomen before being booked into jail. A folding knife was recovered at the scene. Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden said his office didn’t want to let the suspect go, but there were questions of self-defense to be answered and he also didn’t have evidence from any witness putting the knife in the suspect’s hand. It will be tested for DNA, Golden said. The 19-year-old had been arrested and booked for first-degree assault. Golden said this morning the 25-year-old reportedly had the 19-year-old in a headlock and was punching him in the face, before the stabbing. While police can make an arrest if they have probable cause a person committed a crime, the prosecutor’s office decides whether to file a charge based on if they have evidence to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt, according to Golden. The case remains under investigation.

BREAK-INS

• Centralia police were called about 2:30 a.m. today to an unidentified business on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue and told somebody entered its office and removed cash and a computer, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police reported wire was stolen from a house under construction on the 600 block of South Ash Street. The call about the burglary came just before 9 a.m. yesterday.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was called about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to a report of a theft from the 5000 block of Jackson Highway outside Toledo. Taken from a storage shed sometime between Thursday and Sunday were golf clubs, a shop vac, a rolling tool box, another tool box with Craftsman tools and something sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust called a Craftsman combo kit saw, which included a drill. The loss is estimated at $750.

• The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office took a report yesterday afternoon that somebody broke a lock and entered a home on the 5500 block of 222nd Avenue Southwest north of Centralia that hadn’t been checked on for several days. The executor of the estate said nothing appeared to be missing, and items of value were untouched, according to the sheriff’s office. It happened sometime between last Tuesday and Sunday.

• Somebody cut a two foot by four foot hole into the side of a greenhouse at the Happy Hen Farm in Rochester, according to a report made to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. The vandalism at the 8600 block of 180th Way Southwest occurred sometime after 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 10 o’clock the following morning, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said this morning.

BROKE OUT WINDOWS

• Centralia police were called just after midnight last night to the 300 block of North Gold Street to take a report somebody had smashed several windows out a vehicle.

METH ARREST

• A 60-year-old man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine yesterday evening in Centralia following a traffic stop near South Silver and Jefferson streets, according to police. Dale R. Williamson, of Chehalis, was found to be driving with a suspended license and during a search as he was arrested, an officer discovered suspected methamphetamine in his clothing, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

CHEHALIS ARREST

• Chehalis police arrested an individual about 1:30 a.m. today for unlawful possession of a firearm. The name of the man arrested following contact with an officer at Northwest West Street and Northwest Rhode Island Place was not readily confirmable.

SECOND SKYDIVER INJURY IN TWO DAYS

• A 24-year-old skydiver was hospitalized with an injured ankle after a hard landing on Sunday at the Toledo Airport. It followed a similar accident the day before when a 25-year-old was hurt there. Aid was called about 7 p.m. Sunday and told by witnesses the man’s chute got tangled or something while he was still about 30 feet above the ground, according to South Lewis County Paramedic Delay Haddow. He was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital.

WEEKEND COLLISION NEAR EVALINE

• Two people were hospitalized after a collision near Evaline that left both vehicles with significant front end damage on Saturday night. Lewis County Fire District 5 was called just before 9 p.m. the area of Pleasant Valley and Conrad roads, according to District 5 Firefighter Brad Bozarth. The male driver of a Honda car and the female driver of a pickup truck were both taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, Bozarth said this morning. A passenger was reportedly uninjured.

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News brief: Top post at Littlerock prison changes

July 27th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Cedar Creek Corrections Center at Littlerock is getting a new superintendent next month, a man who also has been tapped to assist in finding a spot to build a new 1,000-bed prison for Washington state.

Doug Cole’s appointment takes effect August 15, according to the Washington State Department of Corrections.

Cole is currently the superintendent at the women’s prison at Purdy and previously served as an associate superintendent at McNeil Island Corrections Center, according to Belinda Stewart, a spokesperson for DOC. He has extensive experience in security management, Stewart said.

“He has been in corrections for a long time, he came up through the custody ranks,” Stewart said.

Cedar Creek’s current superintendent Jane Parnell will move to take Cole’s post at the Washington Corrections Center for Women near Gig Harbor.

Cedar Creek is a minimum security prison that houses offenders within four years of their release. The Bordeaux Road facility holds 480 inmates.

In addition to being in charge of Cedar Creek, Cole – a Mason County resident – will serve as the prison division’s liaison for the siting and design of a new facility.

DOC plans to construct a what it calls a new male reception center, in part because Washington Corrections Center in Shelton was never built for that purpose, which is currently serves, according to Stewart. A decision hasn’t yet been made about where it will go.

“We want it on the I-5 corridor,” Stewart said. “That just makes it easier for families to visit.”

Prisons Director Dick Morgan said in a news release Cole a good fit for his new duties.

“Doug has extensive experience with prison construction and his expertise will ensure progress is efficient and meets the needs of the agency,” Morgan stated. “This project is a huge undertaking and it’s critical that we have the right person heading up the effort for our division.”

DOC reports the prison population has changed drastically in the past year. The state agency has reduced 1,056 beds this year in response to a decreased offender population and a projected decline of incoming offenders in the future, according to the news release.

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Centralia Fire Chief: “There was a huge fire load inside that building.”

July 26th, 2010
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Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkoski said that firefighters battling the Saturday furniture store blaze reduced the heat on themselves as best they could by keeping themselves as low to the ground as possible. / Photo by Richard LaLonde

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

While the fire department has finished its part of the investigation into the cause of the weekend’s three-alarm fire at a Centralia furniture business, they will now wait for insurance company investigators to conduct tests on various machines from inside the building to look for a possible ignition source.

Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkowski said he estimated the loss at Just Wood Furniture at about $2 million.

They believe the area of origin was somewhere in the back of the 13,000 square-foot structure, Walkowski said today.

Just Wood – owned by Tom Nelson – manufactured, repaired and sold retail at the business on Harrison Avenue near Yew Street, according to the fire chief. It was a complete loss, as was separate business, Cascade Tax Service which was located inside the building.

“Fires like these take weeks, if not months before we get answers,” Walkowski said.

Firefighters were dispatched at 3:26 a.m. on Saturday after a police officer responded to a burglar alarm there, Walkowski said. The chief said not to read much into that, as fire activity can set off motion detectors.

It took two hours to get the blaze under control and until about 8 o’clock in the morning before it was fully extinguished, according to the chief.

Forty firefighters from six departments battled to keep it contained and prevent it from burning down a convenience store on one side, an accounting office on the other and a small house in the back, Walkowski said as he finished up reports today.

Besides the wood furniture, the business with an adjoining two-story shop contained wood, sawdust, solvents, lacquers and numerous propane cylinders.

“All very, very combustible,” Walkowski said. “There was a huge fire load inside that building.”

When firefighters pulled up, the roof had collapsed and flames had already ignited trees and the side of the Food Mart next door. They didn’t go inside the burning building, according to Walkowski.

“At the height of the firefight, we were pumping 8,000 gallons of water per minute; that is significant,” Walkowski said, noting one ladder truck can put out 1,000 gallons per minute. The city turned on additional pumps and valves to make that possible, he said.

They had police officers chasing down flying embers and nearly had to relocate the command post which was 60 to 80 feet away in a small parking lot across Harrison, the chief said.

“You couldn’t even put your hand on the side of the command vehicle, it was so hot,” Walkowski said.

Personnel and apparatus from departments in Chehalis, Napavine, Oakville and the city of Olympia assisted in fighting the fire. One firefighter was treated for an ankle injury.

The last three-alarm fire in Centralia was four years ago when half of Oakview Elementary School in the north end of town was destroyed by runaway fireworks.

Late Saturday afternoon, Harrison Avenue was reopened and a fence surrounded the blackened remains of the fire. A bulldozer-type machine was parked inside, and nearby was a Just Wood truck and trailer which were spared. File cabinets from the tax business had also been rescued, according to Chief Walkowski.

Centralia resident Jaspal Mohan said she had arrived about 6 a.m. that morning to open Centralia Food Mart, after closing about 11:30 p.m. the night before.

“I was worried, I saw flashing lights, from Mellen Street,” Mohan said.

She found her front door was open after firefighters broke into her convenience store to check in the attic for fire. There was none, but one exterior wall was left charred and an outside corner had burned.

Also Saturday afternoon, Richard LaLonde and a neighbor were pruning and removing bushes from in between their houses, a task prompted by the overnight experience.

The Rochester Primary School teacher said thankfully the wind was carrying embers the other way, because the vacant house in front and very close to theirs on Harrison Avenue is surrounded by tall, dry grass.

LaLonde and his wife were asleep when their children woke them about 3:30 a.m. They were among the crowd who watched for hours.

Cindy LaLonde said it seemed only minutes that the flames moved from the back of the building to the front.

“It all went up, and it went up fast,” Richard LaLonde said.
•••
To view several photos and read the original Saturday news story about the fire at Just Wood Furniture click here.

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News brief: Dry weather prompts Lewis County burn restrictions

July 26th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An outdoor burn ban will go into effect in Lewis County at one minute after midnight tonight.

Lewis County Building Official and Fire Marshal Fred Chapman said he expects it will remain until weather conditions change, probably sometime in October.

It’s a summertime restriction that means residents can’t burn brush outdoors, which they otherwise could have with a permit.

“This is the latest its gone into effect in my 10 years here,” Chapman said, noting that’s because June as such a wet month.

Small cooking campfires – no larger than three feet by three feet by two feet – are still allowed.

Thurston County implemented a similar ban on July 15.

Also on July 15, a burn ban went into effect statewide on all Department of Natural Resources-protected lands which include private forest lands and state-owned forest lands. An exception to those restrictions are recreational fires in approved fire pits in designated campgrounds. It is set to expire on Sept. 15.

In the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, campfires are currently allowed if certain safety measures are taken, such as using a ringed or grated fire pit and keeping tools such as a shovel nearby in case fire should escape, according to Ken Sandusky, a spokesperson for the National Forest.

The fire danger is currently listed as moderate in the Gifford Pinchot, and as the precaution level increases, so do the restrictions, Sandusky said.

Chapman said use common sense and enjoy the summer.

If a person builds a campfire, keep it at least 20 feet away from any structure, don’t do it under a tree and don’t leave it unattended, he said.

The end of July and the first of August often are accompanied by an increase in wildfire outbreaks, according to DNR. So far this year, as of last week, there have been more than 140 wildfires on the 12.7 million acres across Washington on land protected by DNR.

For more information check with your local fire department or the following:

• Lewis County Community Development – click here
 • Washington State Department of Natural Resources – click here
• Gifford Pinchot National Forest – click here
• Southwest Washington Fire Prevention Council – click here
• Southwest Clean Air Agency – click here

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News brief: Weekend crashes

July 26th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A two-car crash on Interstate 5 near 13th Street in Chehalis sent two  women to the hospital yesterday afternoon.

The Washington State Patrol reported that a northbound Audi slammed into the rear of a Toyota Corolla which had braked hard to avoid traffic at about 2 p.m.

The impact forced the Toyota into the inside concrete barrier can caused it to flip onto its top, according to the state patrol.

The 2006 Toyota Corolla was totaled. The 2002 Audi A4 sustained an estimated $2,000 damage and was towed.

Lindsay A. Currier, 22, of Beaverton, Ore. and Alison L. Tuttle, 29, of Portland, Ore. were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. Both were treated and have been released.

The investigating trooper blamed the collision on inattention.

Early the day before, three Randle residents were hospitalized after a car ran off U.S. Highway 12 east of Packwood, rolled and landed on its top blocking both east and westbound lanes.

Aid and troopers were called about 5:45 a.m. on Saturday to the crash about six miles this side of White Pass.

Taken to Morton General Hospital with what were described as minor injuries were the driver of the 2006 Chevrolet HHR, Robert Miller, 77, Beatrice A. Dean, 73, and Lois B. Jones, 76, according to the state patrol.

The car was described as a total loss.

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Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

July 26th, 2010

MAN KNIFED AT CENTRALIA UNDERAGE PARTY

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning a 25-year-old man was knifed when a fight broke out at an underage drinking party outside Centralia late Friday night. Deputies were called about 11:40 p.m. to the 200 block of Blanchard Road and arrested a 19-year-old Centralia man, according to sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust. He said two females reportedly got into a fight which led to a fight between the suspect and the boyfriend of one of them. The 25-year-old Centralia resident, whose name was not released, suffered four knife wounds and was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Aust said. Jovanny Montenegro-Perez, 19,  also of Centralia, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County jail for first-degree assault, according to Aust.

DRUG ARRESTS

• Centralia police arrested Yolanda J. Ortivez, 34, of Oakville, for possession of heroin on Saturday afternoon at the 200 block of West Reynolds Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

• Centralia police arrested Nicholas M. Anderson, 22, of Centralia for possession of heroin on Saturday about 3:30 p.m. on the 1400 block of South Schueber Road, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

• Centralia police reported they arrested and booked an individual for possession of methamphetamine about 3:45 p.m. on Saturday at the 600 block of South Tower Avenue. No name was released.

THEFTS

• A blue Toshiba laptop computer was reported stolen from a home on the 100 block of North Buckner Street in Centralia. Police, called about 8 p.m. on Sunday believe a door was unlocked while the resident was away.

• Somebody broke into a Centralia home and stole car keys and then the truck parked outside, according to a report made to the Centralia Police Department on Friday afternoon. An officer who went to the 1300 block of St. Helens Street described the missing vehicle as a black 1997 Dodge Dakota pickup, with a license plate of A76273W.

JUST PLAIN MEAN STUFF

• Centralia police took a report about 2 p.m. on Saturday that somebody set off fireworks inside a woman’s car on the 1000 block of Elm Street. Police indicated the victim did not know who did it.

• Centralia police took a report over the weekend that somebody entered the compound of Twin City transit on East Locust Street and cut a bike rack off one of the busses and scratched another bus.

AND VEHICLE PROWLS

• Centralia police called to what appeared to be an attempted vehicle prowl about 2:15 a.m. on Saturday on the 1500 block of Pike Street reported the victims dog chased off the male and may have bit him.

• Somebody stole a stereo and related equipment from a vehicle parked on the 1000 block of South Pearl Street in Centralia, according to a  report made to police about 5:20 p.m. on Saturday.

• The Chehalis Police Department reported on Friday a vehicle prowl the afternoon before at South Market Boulevard and Southwest 16th Street.

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News flash: Photos added to “Centralia furniture store destroyed by fire”

July 25th, 2010
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The flames begin to consume the street side storefront of Just Wood Furniture. / Photo by Richard LaLonde

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Just added several photos to the Saturday news story about the fire at Just Wood furniture business on Harrison Avenue.

Check them out here.

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