Investigators are on scene trying to determine exactly what happened.
(SALEM) - A man is in custody tonight for starting a fire inside the People’s Church on Lancaster Drive in Salem, while several hundred people were inside the building.
Marion County Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Kevin Rau says the incident started around 7:30 PM. The suspect is accused of hijacking a local yellow cab and placing a knife to the throat of the taxi driver.
Rau says the man forced the cabbie to take him to The People’s Church on Lancaster Drive NE. Once at that location, the man is alleged to have entered the church with some type of flammable liquid. That’s when the fire started.
One person who contacted Salem-News.com after the incident said a person “had entered the church during their evening service and had poured gasoline on people and then set them on fire.”
Rau says it was chaotic and it apparently did not take long for the man to be overtaken. He says investigators are sifting through the information now. Unfortunately, at least two people were injured in the ensuing fire, which other media reported as multiple fires. Rau says he believes there was a total of one fire.
Man Starts Fire in Salem Oregon Church Amid Congregation of Several HundredSalem-News.com