Crews Battle Commercial Fire in Salem

In all, nearly 50 firefighters from several agencies responded to the incident. This fire was controlled in less than two hours.

Photos by Joy Graves for Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Firefighters from the Marion County Fire District battled a blaze that broke out at a commercial building Friday morning.

The fire teams arrived at Ross Construction Company, at 3501 Brooklake Road NE in Salem, at 11:17 a.m.

Patrick J. Wineman, the Fire Incident Information Officer with Marion County Fire District No. 1, said upon arrival, the Incident Commander, Battalion Chief Craig LoSasso, reported heavy smoke and fire from the 2-story business.

"Three employees were inside the business at the time of the fire and were able to exit the building," Wineman said.

"One of those employees experienced minor smoke inhalations problems while attempting to extinguish the fire. This individual was transported to Salem Hospital for evaluation."

In addition to the fire incident, while responding to assist at the fire scene, Fire Chief J. Kevin Henson was involved in vehicle crash. The crash is being investigated by the Marion County Sheriff's Office Traffic Safety Crash Team.

In all, nearly 50 firefighters from Marion County Fire, Salem Fire, Keizer Fire & Woodburn Fire responded to the incident. This fire was controlled in less than two hours.

There is no damage estimate available at this time, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Marion County Fire District Fire Marshall, Captain Paula Smith.