Smoke billows from home on Oxford Avenue in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Mandy Wilson
Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Arriving firefighters this evening found a north Centralia home fully engulfed in flames and a house next door beginning to burn.
Four fire departments responded to the 6:18 p.m. call to the blaze on the 1500 block of Oxford Avenue, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
They conducted a defensive – exterior – attack, according to Fire Lt. Mark Stahl.
Nobody was injured, but the two-story house is a total loss, along with two sheds and a travel trailer, according to Riverside.
A department spokesperson indicated an elderly woman and some grown grandchildren were there at the time, but everyone got out. Fire Chief Mike Kytta said three cats were missing.
The cause is under investigation. The resident is being assisted by the American Red Cross, according to the chief.
Although a Go-Fund-Me account set up by an individual identifying herself as a granddaughter states the 86-year-old owner lost everything due to someone letting off fireworks, the process is still underway to rule in and rule out potential causes, according to Kytta.
“Interviews and physical evidence is being processed by our team and that will take some time to complete,” Kytta stated.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Betty is my Aunt. (her and my mother were sisters…I lost my mom in 1984)… Aunt Betty is a wonderful and amazing woman. I am so sad for her loss and she surly did not deserve this!
2 of HER grown children–not grandchildren. Please fact check.
My heart and prayers go out to all who were affected by this fire. . . . what a sad tragedy. . .
It is so sad when people lose their homes. Thank goodness no one was hurt.
So sorry for your Mother. She has to be in shock. Our house was built in 1910 and is nearby. My Great Uncle ran a auto repair garage here until he retired. I moved in here in 2001 after my Great Uncle passed. We enjoy our older home.
my mother-inlaw raised 9 children by herself in the house she moved in the house in the 1960’s she was a lpn nurse at the centralia hosiptal until she retired