Fire Causes $80k in Damage to Salem Home

Firefighters say nobody was injured in the blaze that took crews more than twenty minutes to extinguish.

Photo courtesy: Bill Holmstrom/Salem Fire

(SALEM) - Salem Fire Investigators spent most of the early morning trying to determine what caused a Friday night house fire that caused over $80,000 in damage. Fire Investigators eventually determined that the fire was accidential, but say they are still trying to determine an exact cause.

Salem Fire Spokesman Bill Holmstrom says Diane Wilson came home to discover an orange glow coming from her front window, "Shortly after, a window broke out and fire came shooting out of it. She ran to her neighbor's house and called 9-1-1. Mrs. Wilson's husband and two sons were out of town at the time of the fire."

Firefighters received the call for a structure fire at 4793 Center Street NE at 11:32 PM Friday. Holmstrom says the first alarm sent 3 Engines, 1 Ladder Truck, and a Battalion Chief. The first crews on the scene confirmed that it was a working house fire. A second-alarm was called at 11:36 PM bringing more fire fighters and apparatus to the scene. Firefighters battled the fire for over twenty minutes before they had the fire under control according to Holmstrom, "They continued for another 20-minutes extinguishing hot spots in the attic and walls in this two-story single-family dwelling."

No injuries were reported. Salem Fire Investigators were still on the scene Saturday trying to determine the exact cause of the house fire.