Officials Say Three Boys Started Apartment Fire

The boys will now attend the Salem Fire Department's Juvenile Fire Setting Program.

Photos courtesy: Bill Holmstrom/Salem Fire

(SALEM) - Investigators with the Salem Fire Department say three young boys who were playing at 2806 Fisher Road NE, in the Ellsworth Square Apartments found a lighter in the apartment complex.

Rather than leaving it alone or throwing it away, the boys apparently made a different choice. The investigators say the boys took newspaper from a recycle bin and went to the back of the apartment complex and lit the paper on fire.

The fire quickly burned a tree and started to burn the exterior of the apartment complex.

Salem Fire Department crews received the call for a structure fire at 2806 Fisher Road NE at 2:39 PM Tuesday.

Salem Fire Spokesman Bill Holmstrom says bystanders were spraying portable fire extinguishers on the flames when firefighters arrived on the scene.

Firefighters extinguished the fire stopping the spread of the flames before they reached into the interior of the structure.

Three boys ages six, eight, and nine admitted to starting the fire. All three boys were referred to the Salem Fire Department's Juvenile Fire Setting Program.

No injuries were reported and a damage estimate was $2,500.