One dead after shooting in forest near Randle

July 5th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Detectives are investigating a fatal shooting at a campsite south of Randle in which a 63-year-old man has claimed self defense.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office released few details, noting they have resumed processing the scene this morning.

Chief Deputy Dusty Breen stated in a press release that deputies were dispatched after a 911 call at 7:14 p.m. yesterday from a 63-year-old Glenoma man who said he shot an individual at a campsite in self defense.

Breen said it occurred on Forest Service Road 2801 off Cispus Road.

Deputies and sheriff’s detectives responded with assistance from law enforcement personnel from the Washington State Patrol, Morton Police Department and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to Breen.

Because of darkness and conditions at the scene, the investigation was suspended and is continuing there today, according to the sheriff’s office.

Breen states all parties are accounted for and the sheriff’s office doesn’t believe there is a continuing risk to the public.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at 360-748-9286 or Lewis County Communications at 360-740-1105.

Flames devour part of Oakville’s center

July 5th, 2017
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Firefighters attack blaze in downtown Oakville on Tuesday night. / Courtesy photo by Shannon Abbott Olson

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A fire possibly caused by fireworks swept through a former hardware store and two other buildings in the center of Oakville last night and closed the highway for several hours.

Nobody was hurt but the only structure still standing on that side of the block is the tavern, according to Grays Harbor Fire DIstrict 1 Firefighter Shawn Burdett.

The fire department was dispatched at 10:03 p.m. for a structure fire possibly ignited by fireworks on U.S. Highway 12 – also known as Pine Street at that point – near Newton Street, according to authorities.

Burdett said they arrived to find the building fully engulfed in flames and called for mutual aid.

“It was so much black smoke,” said Cassie Henry who has lived in the town her entire life.

Henry said she had been watching the fireworks display at the reservation when a column of dark smoke from downtown drew her and many others away from the show and to the sidewalks where they watched the blaze.

The hardware store her dad’s good friend owned when she was a kid was burning, she said.

“It felt like we lost a community member, to be honest,” Henry said. “We’re going to miss looking at that building.”

Burdett said the old liquor store on one side and the little house on the other side were also a total loss.

The Washington State Department of Transportation put a detour in place, closing the highway in both directions until about 7 o’clock this morning.

District 1 was joined by crews from Grays Harbor Fire DIstrict 5, West Thurston Regional Fire Authority and also Riverside Fire Authority out of Centralia.

“With the help of many, many brave men and women, we got the fire out,” Burdett stated in a message earlier today, and thanked the neighboring fire departments for their assistance.

News brief: Centralia firefighters douse two fires on Independence Day

July 5th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The occupants of a Centralia home are displaced after a fire yesterday which caused moderate damage, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

Firefighters were called about 4:30 p.m. to the 500 block of South Oak Street on a report there was smoke inside the house, according to Fire Capt. Scott Weinert.

“On arrival, crews located a fire on an exterior corner of the residence,” Weinert wrote in a brief summary of the incident. “The fire was burning inside an exterior wall.”

A crew removed some of the siding and put the fire out, according to Weinert.

There was some smoke damage to the interior of the home.  The cause is under investigation.

It was just a little more than an hour later the fire department was called to a fire that broke out in brush and tall grass on undeveloped property at the 2900 block of Cooks Hill Road. It’s cause has not been determined either, according to the fire department.

“Witnesses in the area did report seeing and hearing fireworks being discharged prior to seeing the fire,” Weinert said.

News brief: Head-on crash west of Tenino leaves one dead

July 5th, 2017
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Old 99 is closed during investigation. / Courtesy photo by Thurston County Sheriff’s Office

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A driver in his late 30s was killed yesterday morning when his car crossed the centerline and hit an oncoming pickup truck on Old Highway 99 west of Tenino.

The driver of the 2007 Chevrolet pickup, a man in his 60s, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Carla Carter said deputies were called to the scene near Tilley Road South at about 8 a.m. His condition is unknown this morning, according to Carter.

The roadway was closed yesterday between Tilley and Violet Prairie roads while the sheriff’s office investigated.

The causing driver had been traveling northbound in a 2004 Acura, according to Carter.

Chehalis: Hay-filled barn succumbs to flames

July 4th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Smoke may continue to linger in the area for several days following a barn fire yesterday morning south of Chehalis, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

Crews called to the scene along Bishop Road just before 9 a.m were able to prevent the fire from spreading to several adjacent buildings, but the 80-year-old barn and the approximately 5,000 bales of hay it held were destroyed, according to Fire Lt. Laura Hanson.

District 5 units were assisted by Lewis County Fire District 6, the Chehalis Fire and Lewis County Fire District 2, according to Hanson.

Personnel from District 5 are continuing to monitor and mitigate the remaining materials on scene, Hanson stated.

Two arrested in string of small fires in Winlock

July 3rd, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $50,000 each for a pair of men who allegedly set fires around downtown Winlock early on Saturday morning.

Aaron J. Kalista, 33, and Brent T. Brooks, 30, who reside in Winlock, were charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree arson.

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Aaron J. Kalista

No injuries were reported and no buildings burned down, but firefighters and police Sgt. Sam Patrick responded to four random fires within less than an hour, according to court documents.

It was about 4:14 a.m. when Patrick was asked to go to the 200 block of Southeast First Street where the fire department was extinguishing a small fire which seemed to have been intentionally set in a pile of new construction materials next to a house being remodeled, according to authorities.

At 5 o’clock the same morning, a fire was discovered in a dumpster against the wall of the Winlock Post Office, just blocks to the north, on the 200 block of Northeast First Street, according to charging documents.

There was also a fire in another nearby dumpster on the other side of the post office, next to a fence, according to Patrick.

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Brent T. Brooks

As Patrick responded, he was informed of another fire across from the hardware store on the 500 block of Northeast First Street where boards, pallets and grass were burning, Patrick said.

While the fires were being extinguished, Patrick and two sheriff’s deputies began to search the area looking for who might be responsible, according to charging documents.

Patrick was able to view surveillance images from the hardware store, and saw two males walking away from the last fire, and curiously looking back at it, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm wrote in charging documents.

Patrick recognized the two as the men he’d contacted just before he learned of the first fire, according to Bohm.

Patrick said he had been following up on a complaint of two males harassing someone, came across Kalista and Brooks on foot and spoke with them, and took down their names.

He and the deputies responded to the suspects’ home on the 100 block of state Route 505, and found them wearing the same attire observed in the video, according to Bohm.

They were booked into the Lewis County Jail.

Both were given court appointed lawyers this afternoon. Their arraignments were scheduled for Thursday.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

July 3rd, 2017
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RETAIL THEFT

• Centralia police are investigating a theft in which an estimated $1,000 or more worth of items were stolen from a hardware store on the 1600 block of Harrison Avenue. The theft was reported about 5:25 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CHECKS MISSING

•  Numerous rent checks were reported to have been stolen from a drop box at an apartment complex on the 2400 block of Borst Avenue in Centralia. Police called about 4:10 p.m. yesterday are investigating, according to the Centralia Police Department.

PILFERING PRODUCE

• A 27-year-old Centralia resident appeared to be trying to steal fruits and vegetables when he was located inside the fenced area of a produce stand on the 100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia about 12:10 a.m. yesterday, according to the Centralia Police Department. David T. Alexander was arrested for second-degree burglary and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

SNACKS SNAGGED

• Chehalis police were called for a break-in to a coffee stand at the 2300 block of Northeast Kresky Avenue at about 8:30 a.m. on Friday in which someone pried open a window and took about $10 worth of food.

BURGLARY SUSPECT TURNS SELF IN

• A 21-year-old Longview woman came forward on Friday to confess her involvement in a residential burglary and theft of a car from a Toledo man at the 100 block of Lacey Lane back on May 4, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 2000 Mercury Milan was recovered by the Longview Police Department but about $2,000 worth of valuables were taken from the home, including credit cards, checks, clothing and jewelry, according to the sheriff’s office. Desiree A. Barnard was arrested for residential burglary, vehicle theft and second-degree theft and then booked into the Lewis County Jail, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. A case has been referred to prosecutors for burglary and making a false statement for a 34-year-old Onalaska man who is incarcerated in the Cowlitz County Jail, according to Breen.

GARDEN TOOL MISSING

• Chehalis police were called about 11:30 a.m. on Saturday to the 400 block of Southwest Chehalis Avenue where someone had stolen a weed trimmer from an outbuilding.

AUTO THEFT

•  A green 1996 Honda Accord was reported stolen from the 500 block of South Oak Street, according to a report made to Centralia police about 9 a.m. on Saturday. The passenger car bears a license plate reading 858 YFB, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called to the sports complex at the 700 block of Pioneer Way about 4:35 p.m. yesterday where someone had broken a vehicle’s window and stolen cash.

• Two small wallets and some cash were reported stolen from a vehicle parked outside an apartment complex at the 1800 block of North Pearl Street, according to a report made to police about 8:25 a.m. yesterday.

• An estimated $1,300 worth of hairdressing equipment was stolen from a vehicle parked at the 1300 block of Logan Street during the night, according to a report made to Centralia police on Saturday.

•  A black Dickie’s jacket, medication, handicap placard and vehicle documents were stolen during the night from a vehicle at the 500 block of West Center Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 11:50 a.m. on Saturday.

• Police were called at 7 a.m. on Saturday to the 500 block of North Rock Street in Centralia where a window on a vehicle was smashed out and a Pioneer stereo was stolen.

VANDALISM

• Two vehicle tires were reported to have been slashed by an unknown suspect at the 500 block of North Oak Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 10:20 a.m. on Saturday.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A 29-year-old Mossyrock man was injured when his pickup truck left the roadway and rolled along U.S. Highway 12 in Silver Creek last night. Troopers called about 9:05 p.m. report the Dodge Dakota was westbound before the wreck, according to the Washington State Patrol. It was totaled, according to the state patrol. Adan Cruzcruz was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital and was arrested for driving under the influence as well as without insurance, the investigating trooper reports.

• Chehalis police were called just before 3 p.m. on Friday to the parking lot at Wal-Mart where a small child and a vehicle collided. Chehalis Police Department Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said he did not yet have the details but understood it involved either no injury or a minor injury.

FIREWORKS COMPLAINTS

• Verbal warnings were given to numerous Centralia residents after 11 p.m. on Saturday for setting off fireworks after hours, according to the Centralia Police Department. The authorized times for discharging fireworks was explained to them, according to police. State law allows for discharge between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. until Wednesday, with an exception for tomorrow when they are okay until midnight. Some cities and counties may have other restrictions.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, trespassing, misdemeanor assault, malicious mischief, protection order violation, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, second-degree reckless endangerment, interfering with DV reporting, minor in possession and/or consumption of alcohol; responses for alarm, dispute, harassment, civil issue, vehicle collision, hit and run, disorderly person, suspicious circumstances; complaint of fireworks … and more among 339 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 48-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.