[1]Courtesy photo by Gharrett Lamping
Updated at 11:15 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Firefighters are on the scene this morning at the vacant Riverside Motel on Harrison Avenue near Bridge Street in Centralia across from the Goodwill.
Crews called just before 2 a.m. found heavy fire in the northwest portion of the single story buildings.
Riverside Fire Authority was joined by the Chehalis Fire Department and members of West Thurston Regional Fire Authority out of Rochester.
Assistant Chief Rick Mack said at about 10:45 a.m., they are continuing to put out hot spots and conducting overhaul with the help of an excavator.
“We are doing that rather carefully because we had reports transients were living here and they are unaccounted for,” Mack said.
A homeless person told authorities they brought dinner to one inhabitant there last night and he and police are currently trying to locate him, Mack said. They are also trying to find a second male believed to have been staying there, he said.
The property has long been vacant and was on track to be demolished for development, Mack said. It had a fire three or four years ago, one in which a cause was never determined, he said
It’s owned by a Centralia woman, who is in the process of selling it, he said.
Harrison Avenue was closed but has been reopened.
One firefighter was injured with a laceration to their hand, and was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital where they were treated and have been released.
More than 20 firefighters operated together until getting control of the blaze about 6:45 a.m., according to the fire department. Mack said two of three mobile structures separate from the original building were destroyed. Each held eight motel rooms, he said.
Crews will remain there today sifting through the debris as they look for the cause, according to Mack.
Update at 2:15 p.m.: The fire department is done for the day there. They did not find any body amongst the rubble. And it’s not safe enough to continue at the site in their effort to determine the cause, according to Mack.
[2]Courtesy photo by Gharrett Lamping
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[3]Courtesy photo by Gharrett Lamping
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[4]Remains of two of the sections from the northwest corner of the single-story complex are strewn about after they burned and were sifted through with an excavator.