By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A smoke detector may have saved the life of Centralia man who was alerted to a fire inside his home late yesterday afternoon, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
The single adult male occupant was sleeping – or maybe cat napping – when a fire broke out inside the older, single-wide mobile home he rents at the 1400 block of Harrison Avenue, Acting Capt. Jesse Berry said.
“I think he tried for a split second to extinguish it, and then got out,” Berry said.
Firefighters called just after 5 p.m. attacked the blaze through a side door and had it knocked down within 10 minutes, Berry said.
The man was not injured, but Red Cross was contacted to help him with a place to stay, according to Berry.
There was smoke damage throughout the home and fire damage in the kitchen, also extending into the living room, he said.
Berry said it helped that the call was just blocks from the fire station, so the response time was short, but said the importance of the working smoke detector was “phenomenal.”
The cause is under investigation.