In brief: Four fishermen missing off coast

ASTORIA, Ore. – Authorities pledged to search throughout the night Saturday for four people who disappeared from a fishing trawler.

A distress beacon led U.S. Coast Guard crews to a debris field and an oil sheen several miles off the Washington coast.

In the debris field was a damaged, empty lifeboat, the Coast Guard said.

The distress signal came early Saturday from the 70-foot fishing vessel Lady Cecelia, which has a home port in Warrenton, Ore., and is registered to Dale Kent of Bay City, Ore. He could not be reached Saturday by the Associated Press, but the ship’s owner told the Guard that four people had been aboard.

“The life raft was in no condition to be used,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Shawn Eggert. “There was a lot of debris, a sheen and the (beacon).”

Explosion kills man, obliterates house

KALISPELL – A 57-year-old man died in a large explosion that destroyed a house, authorities in Kalispell said.

Fire officials said John Parsons died in the blast reported at 2:16 a.m. Friday and that caused the house to catch fire.

Kalispell Fire Chief Dave Dedman said the house was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

He said the blast ejected chunks of burning debris that threatened other homes and structures in the neighborhood.

Dedman said crews worked to protect nearby property, but the victim’s home and two vehicles were destroyed. No one else was injured.

Authorities said foul play isn’t suspected, but because there was a fatality the Kalispell Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation and treating the area as a crime scene.

Officials intercept mussel-laden barge

Vancouver, Wash. – A Clark County sheriff’s deputy Friday intercepted a 40-foot lake “party barge” infested with invasive zebra and quagga mussels whose driver allegedly was trying to avoid inspection.

The driver had been stopped in Oregon and was told to pull into the Washington State Patrol’s Port of Entry truck weight and inspection station along Interstate 5 northbound in Ridgefield, said Corey Turner, a commercial vehicle enforcement officer there.

The driver tried to bypass the scalehouse on a side road, but Deputy James Naramore intercepted the trucker and escorted the truck and boat to the scalehouse Friday morning. It was under orders to stay until officers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife could have it steam-cleaned, Turner said.