[1]House burns on Northeast First near Jabez Street in Winlock. / Courtesy photo by Bethany Weaver Spalding
Updated at 8:30 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Firefighters are on the scene in Winlock where a house fire may have claimed three lives.
Lewis County Fire District 15 and three neighboring fire departments responded to multiple reports at 2:36 a.m. of a residential fire on the 800 block of Northeast First Street, near Jabez Street.
They found a large fire within a two-story home and attacked it from the exterior because of the large amount of fire present, according to District 15 Assistant Chief Kevin Anderson.
A man and two school-aged boys escaped, but initial information is a female and two female children were not able to get out, according to authorities.
Crews were still engaging in fire suppression efforts just before 6 a.m., according to Anderson.
Approximately 20 firefighters from Lewis County Fire Districts 15, 20, 2 and 5 battled the blaze.
Anderson states the Winlock Police Department is investigating to confirm that three individuals are inside, as well as the cause and origin of the fire.
Winlock Police Chief Terry Williams said just before 7 a.m., that he’s not yet able to get inside. The home is pretty much burned to the ground, he said.
Firefighters are still putting water on the structure, he said.
“Trying to get the heat down, pulling it apart,” he said.
Citizens should expect travel delays on Northeast First Street thorough the day.
Next door neighbor Mark Spalding said he awoke to an explosion that shook his house and got his family members out of bed.
“I didn’t know if it was our house, or whose house,” Spalding said.
He, his wife and his 14-year-old son ran toward the neighbor’s home, where they saw flames so high they were starting to touch the trees, he said.
Spalding said the man who lives there came running up to him on the road.
“The guy came up and put his hands on my shoulders just crying and screaming to help save his wife, his kids,” Spalding said.
It was too hot to get close to the house, Spalding said.
The Winlock School District issued a statement this morning, saying the students who attend their district are safe with the father in the care of the Red Cross, but three family members are unaccounted for.
“We will be providing support as needed to students and staff,” the statement said.