A Centralia warehouse and adjoining two story apartment at 419 South Locust were destroyed by fire early Friday morning.
Centralia City Firefighters say the fire was discovered by Trevor Henson who was in the process of moving into the apartment. He found the fire inside the warehouse. Henson tried to fight the fire was a hose, but the fire spread rapidly and the building along with a pickup truck and a trailer parked outside were fully engulfed when firefighters arrived on the scene. The building contained vehicles and several accelerants.
Both Henson and his two daughters who were in the apartment escaped safely. The building is owned by Scott Breiter.
Firemen were able to confine the fire to the one building, with just heat damage to two neighboring buildings. A metal warehouse at 419 and a half South Locust also owned by Breiter had melted siding from the heat. The Hoyt Building on the other side had some damage to the outside brick by the head.
A State Deputy Fire Marshall could not determine an exact cause but believes it may be electrical in nature.
All off-duty Centralia City Firemen were called in and the Centralia Fire Protection District provided mutual aid at the scene. Odin Firemen stood by at the Centralia Fire Station in the event of another fire.
The fire call came in at one Friday morning with firemen on the scene until around five am.
Overhead view of the warehouse fire. Photo by Tim Ferguson.
Photo by Tim Ferguson.
Photo by Tim Ferguson.
