'Truly Tragic:' Community Reeling After Deadly House Fire

The community is in mourning and investigators are searching for answers after an early morning house fire that killed three Centralia children.

“The death of any child is significant in any community. The loss of three in a community the size of Centralia is truly tragic,” Centralia Police Chief Carl Nielsen said.

Representatives from the Centralia Police Department, the Riverside Fire Authority and the Centralia School District held an emotional press conference Friday afternoon, just 12 hours after the fire gutted the split-level home.

“It’s very difficult,” RFA Chief Mike Kytta said through tears when asked how firefighters are bearing the weight of the tragedy.

The three children were in second, fourth and sixth grade, Centralia School District Superintendent Mark Davalos said Friday afternoon.

“It’s terrible. I can’t tell you,” he said. “I need to be strong for our staff and community, but this is a huge loss. It’s always a tragedy when we lose kids. We love all our kids.”

The school district brought in extra counselors and staff, and set up a safe room for students dealing with grief.

“It leaves us all as first responders with heavy hearts,” said Assistant Chief Rick Mack. “First and foremost, our hearts go out to the parents of these children and extended family members.”

The children’s mother — the only survivor of the fire — has requested that the children’s names and ages not be released publicly, Nielsen said.

Both chambers of the state Legislature held a moment of silence Friday morning in Olympia, noting that the children’s father is Brad Tower, a well-known lobbyist.

Intense Heat, Smoke Hampers Rescue Attempts

The fire was first reported at 12:46 a.m. Friday in the 900 block of Ham Hill Road in Centralia.

At that point, the home was already engulfed in flames. When the first responders arrived, the mother reported that her children were still in the house.

Officer Philip Weismiller, of the Centralia Police Department, and Captain Terry Ternan and engineer Rick LeBoeuf, of the RFA, were the first to arrive at the home.

The three climbed on the roof and attempted to gain access to one of the children’s bedroom windows. Weismiller was injured when he broke the window.

“Unfortunately, intense heat and flames prevented their heroic efforts from gaining entry,” Nielsen said.

Weismiller was treated for his injuries and is now resting at home, he said.

About 15 minutes after the fire was first reported, Lori Mohney, a neighbor living in a home across the street, was awakened by her dog barking.

She looked out her front window, saw the blaze and called 911.

“It was in full swing,” she said.

Mohney said she and her husband watched as emergency responders worked to extinguish the fire. She said they didn’t know the family well, but often saw the children playing outside.

“I’m sorry I had to watch it,” she said. “It’s not often you watch a house on fire knowing there’s kids in there. It’s not a good feeling.”

Nielsen thanked members of the community for their support for the police and fire departments on Friday.

“I’ve personally witnessed the outpouring of community support that has come into the police department via phone calls and in person this morning and would like to take the opportunity to ask people to please take time out of our always busy schedules and think about the family of the victims of today’s tragedy, and to please take time to appreciate and love your family members,” he said.

Investigation Into Fire’s Cause Ongoing

By early this morning, investigators had narrowed the origin of the fire to an area within about 4 feet from the home’s front door, in the home’s living room.

“We came to that conclusion based on fire patterns that we were observing,” said Mack, also a fire marshal, who is leading the investigation.

“All fire patterns tell us two things — they tell us the fire’s movement and it’s intensity, and when we follow that in reverse order it leads us to an area we can begin focussing our investigation,” he said.

The one survivor of the fire was in a downstairs bedroom, below the level where the fire started. According to reports, she woke up to find the house on fire and was not able to get to the third floor, where the three children were all sleeping in separate bedrooms.

“We need to spend some more time interviewing the one survivor, taking into her consideration what her emotional state is right now and being respectful of that, but we will need to spend some more time talking to her,” Mack said.

Lewis County Coroner Warren McCleod told The Chronicle autopsies on the victims will likely be conducted early next week.

Mack said he doesn’t know whether the home had working smoke alarms.

Investigators removed a stove and skillet in the course of their investigation.

“Initially, we did hear that there was something observed on or about the stove that was glowing, so we took the stove into evidence to examine it to determine exactly what may have happened there, but again fire patterns led us to a room altogether different than the kitchen,” Mack said.

Investigators have not found an obvious cause of the fire, he said, but do not believe it to be suspicious.

Kytta said the house was of modern design, and was by all accounts up to code.

“There certainly isn’t anything we’ve seen that would suggest that there was any design flaws in the building,” he said. “I believe that what you have though is a situation where in open spaces you had the fire develop and it was not starved for oxygen.”

The home’s large windows were broken during the growth of the fire, causing air to rush into the building and fuel its growth further.

In addition, the shape of the stairway leading to the children’s rooms funneled smoke to the upper story, he said.

“It acted as though it were a chimney,” Kytta said.