Lewis County Sirens.com

Pickup truck rests on its top. / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Two young men were extricated from a small pickup truck that was nearly split in half from the force of its collision into a tree in Centralia last night.

Firefighters called about 9:20 p.m. to the area off North Gold Street at Ham Hill Road found the truck at the bottom of an embankment on its top. The occupants had been wearing seat belts, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

Crews used hydraulic tools to remove the 18-year-old driver and his 16-year-old passenger, according to authorities.

Fire Capt. Scott Weinert said because of suspected internal injuries, the pair were airlifted to Harborview Medial Center in Seattle.

Centralia police report this morning it appears that speed and inexperience were factors in the collision. The police department describes their injuries as non-life threatening.

Updated at 6:35 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – One person in critical condition was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after a collision between a dirt bike and another vehicle yesterday in Adna.

Firefighters and medics called about 3 p.m. to the 100 block of Spooner Road arrived to find bystanders performing CPR on a man on the roadway, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

Medics stopped CPR when the patient regained consciousness, according to fire department spokesperson DJ Hammer.

The man, in his early 70s, was transported to the Adna High School stadium where he was picked up by a helicopter, according to Hammer.

It appeared the 72-year-old Chehalis resident pulled out of his driveway on his motorcycle and failed to yield, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He was hit by a GMC2500 pickup truck, which sustained major damage, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

The 40-year-old Chehalis man driving the pickup was reportedly unhurt.

Breen said the victim had been wearing a helmet, but it was ripped off from the wreck, leaving him with head trauma.

His 1986 Dual Sport Honda XL250 motorcycle was licensed for the road, but was a total loss, according to Breen.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Deputies and firefighters were called out early this morning when passersby came across a truck that was wrecked and burning on a remote road south of Glenoma. The occupant was deceased.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the state patrol estimated the Ford F150 was traveling as much as 70 mph on a long straight stretch before striking a tree and catching fire.

The impact was so great it severed the tree, part of which fell back on to the vehicle, according to Breen.

It happened on the Champion 200 Line, a gravel road off of Champion Haul Road, he said.

The sheriff’s office was dispatched at 6:23 a.m. Members of Lewis County Fire District 18 were joined by personnel from Lewis County Fire DIstrict 14 and extinguished the fire.

Breen said they believe it occurred sometime around 5:30 a.m. or 6 o’clock.

The victim’s identity is being definitively established by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office, but the sheriff’s office suspects he is a 27-year-old Glenoma resident.

Chief Breen said as of this afternoon, they didn’t really know how or why it happened.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A customer at the checkout counter of a Chehalis pet supply store accidentally fired his 38 revolver, injuring himself yesterday.

Police called at 12:42 p.m. yesterday to the Twin City Town Center found the victim and his wife had already headed to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The 79-year-old Onalaska resident shot himself in the foot, according to police.

He and his wife were at the counter at Petsense when he placed his hands in his pockets, and then witnesses heard a loud bang, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. The man, who was not named, then stated he shot himself, Bailey said.

An officer made contact with him, and he confirmed what happened, according to Bailey.

The victim was treated at Providence Centralia Hospital for the non-life threatening injury and has been released, according to Bailey.

Bailey said nobody else was injured. She didn’t know how many people were inside the business at the time.

The strip mall is just west of Interstate 5 on the 1400 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue.

The case will be forwarded to Chehalis Municipal Court prosecutors for a review of possible charges, according to police.

Three years ago, after a 40-year-old man holstering his firearm in the parking lot at Sunbird Shopping Center accidentally fired a round through his hand and into his wife’s thigh, he was charged with reckless endangerment.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Board of Commissioners announced yesterday they would end their restrictions on outdoor burning as of 12:01 a.m. today.

A prohibition on outdoor burning was put in place in unincorporated areas of Lewis County on Aug. 2 when weather conditions created substantial fire danger. Even recreational campfires were prohibited for a period but were allowed again beginning Labor Day weekend.

Now, the board and the county fire marshal say conditions have improved.

Outdoor burning is restricted to natural vegetation from the burn site and is subject to an open burning application and permit.

Burning garbage, paper or other refuse is never allowable.

To obtain an Open Burning Application and Permit, apply on-line at http://lewiscountywa.gov/communitydevelopment/burn-permit-2 or in person at the Lewis County Fire Marshal’s office.

For further information, contact Doyle Sanford, Building Official/Fire Marshal, at 360-740-1146.  The fire marshal’s office is in the Lewis County Public Services building, located at 2025 NE Kresky Avenue, Chehalis.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Pacific County Sheriff’s Office reported today that a 50-year-old man from Centralia was killed in an accident at a logging site yesterday.

William J. Leonard was deceased at the scene, inside the cab of a piece of heavy equipment that tumbled several hundred yards down a steep embankment of the Fossil Creek area of Pacific County, according to the sheriff’s office.

Chief Deputy Pat Matlock wrote in a news release this afternoon that they were called about the incident about 12:25 p.m. yesterday.

It happened about 16 miles from the paved roadway, on Rayonier Forestry land, according to Matlock.

“Witness statements and evidence observed at the scene indicate that the victim was ‘shovel logging’ a steep side hill,” Matlock wrote. “It appeared that the shovel had been moving decks of trees up the hill when it tipped over and rolled to the bottom.”

Leonard was working for EDB Logging, according to sheriff’s office.