CENTRALIA, Wash. - A three-alarm fire has burned two homes in Centralia.
The Riverside Fire Authority says the fire apparently began in a garage located between two houses in the 300 block of North Gold Street at about 2:45 a.m. According to Fire Chief Jim Walkowski, by the time the first units arrived on the scene the flames had spread from the garage to the homes. Four vehicles were also on fire.
Walkowski said one of the homes had been divided into four apartments.
Firefighters were forced out of one house when the second floor collapsed.
"The challenge we had with this fire, is that we had the floor collapse on the second floor so we weren't able to gain access from the lower level," said Walkowski.
Walkowski said a large number of people were living in the two homes.
"We have a total of 23 people displaced. We had 20 that were living in one home that was divided into four apartments and then we had one single family residential home with three."
Everyone got out OK.
The Red Cross is helping 12 residents displaced by the fire. Another 11 residents are out of town.
According to the chief, one firefighter received a minor injury and a pregnant woman was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital suffering from minor smoke inhalation.
More than three dozen firefighters from a half-dozen districts battled the flames.
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