[1]Firefighters attack flames at an Alpha Way home today. / Courtesy photo by David Jackson, Lewis County Fire District 1
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A large appliance that is unrecognizable after a residential fire in Onalaska today is to blame for burns sustained by the 58-year-old resident.
“The woman tried to push it out the back door, she ended up burning her hands, we had to take her to the hospital,” Lewis County Fire District 1 Chief Mark Conner said.
Firefighters were called just after 12 p.m. to the 200 block of Alpha Way, off Beck Road north of Middle Fork Road when the appliance caught fire.
The single-wide mobile home had been added onto multiple times giving the flames numerous places to move, into the walls and into the ceiling, according to Conner.
He described the structural damage as about 15 percent of the home, and somehow next to no damage to its contents.
“It took a while of digging around to get it all out,” he said.
The mystery appliance was situated in between the living room and the kitchen, and vented outside through a wall, he said.
The woman was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. Conner didn’t have an update about her condition.
District 1 was joined by neighboring departments from rural Chehalis and Napavine and wrapped up about 2:30 p.m., he said.
A fire investigator is looking into the cause, according to Conner.