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News brief: Man, son escape burning house east of Napavine

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters are on the scene of an overnight blaze that left a Napavine area family without a home.

Nobody was injured, but the residence on Koontz Road near Coulson Road – and its contents – are a total loss, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

“It’s all the way on the ground, it’s just terrible,” Chief Eric Linn said this morning.

Crews called about 2:10 a.m. arrived to find roughly 75 percent of the structure burning, Linn said. The owner and his son were asleep, but had awakened and got themselves out, he said.

It was an older single-story house with a fairly recent addition of a garage and upstairs “bonus” room, Linn said. The fire appears to have begun in the new end of the structure, and seems to have been burning undetected for some time, he said.

Portions of the firefight were delayed while responders waited for workers to shut off the power to the building, while exploding ammunition increased the challenge, according to the chief.

“We couldn’t be really super aggressive, because it was just too dangerous,” Linn said.

Members of fire departments from Winlock, Toledo and rural Chehalis hauled in water by trucks, since the area has no fire hydrants, he said.

The Red Cross has been to the scene already to assist the residents.

Linn said this morning they are sifting through smoldering remains in an attempt to find the cause. He hasn’t yet determined a dollar amount for the loss, he said.

“It will be in excess of $100,000, as it was a relatively nice house,” he said.