By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Downed trees and power lines had chainsaws working overtime and blocked roads meant in at least one case EMTs had to hike into an aid call and walk a patient out in the dark.
In Rochester, the fire department responded to almost 100 calls in the past 24 hours, despite losing power and phone service at all their stations.
West Thurston Regional Fire Authority was still operating on generator-power this morning at their main station on Sargent Road, according to Chief Robert Scott.
They normally get their calls over the Internet, Scott said, so they’ve been getting information over cell phones.
His Rochester area crews responded to multiple vehicle accidents during the last shift, mostly minor or non-injury, he said.
They extinguished a fire yesterday afternoon in a mobile home park which displaced about five residents, Scott said.
It happened about 4 p.m. at the 10,500 block of 184th. A double-wide mobile home was well-involved in flames when they arrived, but nobody was hurt, he said.
Heavy snow and ice building up on tree branches and power lines from Wednesday’s snow storm have been blamed for widespread power outages in greater Lewis County.
Centralia-area firefighters were called some 40 times yesterday and last night about power lines arcing, related to snow, ice and tree limbs.
About 4 o’clock this morning, an aid crew answered a call up Padrick Road in Centralia and it wasn’t long before they realized they couldn’t drive all the way there, Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Ken Colombo said.
They hiked about a quarter mile and ended up walking the patient out, Colombo said.
Downed power lines across all lanes of Interstate 5 in north Centralia blocked traffic for about an hour this morning.
The Olympian reports about 40,000 customers without electricity in Thurston County may have to wait days for it to be restored. Read more about that, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter