A fire in an abandoned house in the 1100 block of Eckerson Road in Centralia on Friday morning is under investigation by the Centralia Police Department.
Firefighters and police officers got the call for the fire before 7:30 a.m. Responders included the Riverside Fire Authority and Centralia and Chehalis police.
Detective Sergeant Dave Clary told The Chronicle the house was the residence of a man who died by suicide in February of this year after barricading himself in the house during a standoff with police officers over a misdemeanor offense warrant. The man had a known history of mental illness, the Centralia police chief said at the time.
Since then, the abandoned residence was not receiving electricity, Clary said. Without power or any lightning in the area, the fire is almost definitely human-caused, he said. Whether it was intentional is still being determined.
The house was known to be occupied by transient individuals at times, Clary said.
The fire was under control by mid-morning on Friday. Despite being surrounded by trees and brush, wildland firefighting crews were not needed in order to stop the spread of the blaze.
The house’s roof collapsed in on itself, and the building is likely a total loss.
