By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The cause of the Friday afternoon blaze that gutted a rural Chehalis house isn’t yet known.
Fire Investigator Adam Myer said he’s taken samples from the scene for analysis and the sheriff’s office is conducting interviews.
[1]Larkspur Road home
“It was a large fire, with complete destruction of the residence in the middle of the day,” Myer said. “And rapidly growing.”
Firefighters were called about 3:30 p.m. for a possible brush fire seen from the area of Pleasant Valley and Brown Road East, southwest of Chehalis. When they arrived, the roof had already collapsed and crews from Lewis County Fire Districts 6, 5 and 15 battled the blaze from the exterior only.
Nobody was home at the time, but the couple who lives there lost a cat, a dog, and everything inside, Myer said. Some items in the attached garage were spared.
The single-story house sat at the end of long, sparsely populated private drive, Larkspur Road.
Between the two of them, they have three school-age children who lived there as well, according to Myer.
He gathered samples of items such as wood and dirt to be examined more closely for possible accelerants, Myer said.
He said it could take as long as three weeks to get the results back from the Washington State Crime Lab.