Deputies wonder why man fled following fire

Sheriff’s deputies were puzzled Thursday by a man who emerged from a home carrying a container of flaming liquid, then threw it down in the driveway and fled before firefighters arrived.

Members of Clark County Fire & Rescue rushed to the home at 20409 N.E. 72nd Ave., west of Battle Ground, about 5:15 p.m.

It appeared that the man grabbed the flaming container from the kitchen stove, tried to douse it in a sink in a utility room and then ran outside and threw it down in the gravel driveway, said fire Capt. Todd Kays.

Later Thursday evening, Sgt. Bill Roberts with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said the man still was missing. It wasn’t known whether he was burned, as was reported initially, and if so, how badly. Also a mystery: why he fled.

Police first suspected there might be a methamphetamine lab in the home. However, a detective with the Clark-Skamania Drug Task Force said officials only found a couple of containers of acetone, a common chemical, in the home, not enough evidence to allege it was a meth lab.

In fact, there was no evidence that any crime had been committed at all, Roberts said.

A Washougal-area woman was in satisfactory condition Thursday after a truck she was in plummeted down an embankment several miles north of Washougal the previous night.

Chelsea Lee Bryson, 26, who suffered a head injury, was recovering at Southwest Washington Medical Center.

The name and condition of a teenage boy who also was in the car were not available, but officials said he suffered only minor injuries.

Clark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bill Roberts said Thursday night that the 1994 GMC pickup had been going downhill on a gravel road and speeding was a factor in the crash.

Roberts said deputies had not determined who was driving the pickup, so no ticket was immediately issued.

The crash happened about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, when the car was heading west on Northeast Spud Mountain Road, northeast of Livingston Mountain Road.

It went out of control, down an embankment and hit a pine tree, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Schanaker.

Officials put a Life Flight helicopter on standby as rescuers searched for the car. Firefighters turned on their sirens and asked the teen, who was still speaking with 911 dispatchers by cell phone, to tell them when he heard the sirens approaching.

Rescuers called for a crew with chain saws to clear a trail so they could move a patient who was secured in a rescue basket up to the road.

Officials called for the air ambulance and set up a landing zone at Grove Field, but the helicopter was unable to land due to ground fog, Roberts said.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.