Updated at 2:32 p.m.
SCHOOL BUS FIRE
• As many as a half dozen elementary school children were evacuated from a bus this morning when its heater caught fire in Winlock. Nobody was injured. Firefighters and deputies responded to the 500 block of North Military Road about 7:40 a.m. and discovered the fire had essentially burned itself out, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said it is believed dust, dirt particles or some other debris ignited in the heater.
NEAR MISS BETWEEN SCHOOL BUS, DUMP TRUCK
• A 1975 Kenworth dump truck went sideways in the road and came to rest in a ditch when it came around a curve upon a school bus dropping off a child yesterday in the Boistfort Valley. The truck missed the bus which was carrying children just before 3 p.m., according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the 35-year-old Centralia man was traveling too fast along the 500 block of Boistfort Road as he approached a sign that stated, “School Bus Stop Ahead.” Nobody was injured and the driver was cited for wheels off the roadway Brown said. The truck – one of the brakes of which was found out of adjustment – was taken out of service, according to Brown.
RESIDENTIAL FIRE IN ONALASKA
• Fire broke out in a manufactured home in Onalaska yesterday at about 3:30 p.m. on the 200 block of Leonard Road. Fire Investigator Ted McCarty said the damage was limited to the electric furnace and its closet. McCarty said he’s uncertain of the cause. The resident’s power had been off the day before and they said they noticed a real odd sound when it came back on, he said. But also, it’s possible mice had chewed into wiring causing the issue, he said.
COMMERCIAL STRUCTURE FIRE IN CENTRALIA
• Firefighters were called about 3:45 a.m. today when fire broke out at a wood mill at the end of Central Boulevard in Centralia. Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Casey McCarthy said workers said they saw flames showing about four-feet high. Sawdust ignited in one of the bag houses, McCarthy said. “We ended up being able to contain it to the one hopper,” McCarthy said. Crews were on the scene for about two hours, he said.
DUMPSTER FIRE IN ALLEY
• Police and firefighters both responded about 8:15 p.m. yesterday when a passerby discovered the contents of a dumpster burning in an alley behind a Centralia tavern. Part of the fence belonging to Bub’s Pub on the 500 block of North Tower Avenue burned, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The incident is being labeled suspicious.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE BURNS IN MOSSYROCK
• A 35- 40-foot long motorhome was destroyed by fire on Tuesday evening north of Mossyrock, likely related to the power outage, according to Lewis County Fire District 3. Fire Chief Doug Fosburg said the responded about 6:30 p.m. to the blaze on Skyview Drive off Birley Road and found the recreational vehicle fully engulfed in flames. Nobody was hurt and they managed to prevent a nearby pump house and a 100-gallon propane tank less than 10 feet away from igniting, Fosburg said. The RV was designed so when the electricity is shut off, it automatically switches over the propane to keep its refrigerator running, he said, and they suspect something went wrong during that process.
SCAMMED
• A 71-year-old Chehalis resident called police yesterday after discovering the more than $1,100 she’d wired to a missionary friend in Istanbul, Turkey actually went to an impostor. The victim of the scam told police she’d received an email from a friend, a real person that she knows, who said they needed cash, so she sent the money via Western Union, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
AUTO THEFT
• Someone stole a 1991 Dodge Dakota pickup truck from Southwest Seventh Street near Market Boulevard in Chehalis sometime between Monday and yesterday. The vehicle was primer black in color, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
VEHICLE PROWL
• Two guns were stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked at the Motel 6 in Centralia yesterday. An officer called about 9:30 p.m. to the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue learned the two men in their 20s from Centralia and Winlock had been visiting a guest and discovered the firearms were taken from their pickup truck, according to the Centralia Police Department. Missing is a Mossberg 20-gauge shotgun and a Mossberg 22 caliber rifle, according to police.
• Centralia police were called about 8 o’clock yesterday morning to the 1000 block of South Pearl Street where someone had stolen a backpack from an unlocked car.
OTHER THEFT
• Police and aid were called about 7:45 p.m. yesterday to Wal-Mart in Chehalis where a 38-year-old woman was found passed out in the restroom after reportedly huffing on an aerosol container from the store shelves. The woman faces a possible charge of misdemeanor theft, but wasn’t arrested because she was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
SOLICITING PROSTITUTION
• Chehalis police followed up on a report from Monday night in which a pizza delivery person said when he brought pizza to a motel on the 200 block of Interstate Avenue, the customer offered money in exchange for sex. When an officer went to speak to the customer, he had already checked out, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, dispute, harassment, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, collisions on city streets … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter