Salem Home Goes Up in Smoke

A Salem house destroyed Thursday afternoon by fire was unoccupied.

Photo and video by Jerry Freeman Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Fire crews in Marion County were busy Thursday evening battling a fire that broke out in an older Salem home at Center and 45th around 6:00 p.m.

The wooden structure quickly became engulfed in flames, much to the surprise of neighbors like Andrey Ocerov.

"You know, the first impression was scary. I was sitting there using the computer and my sister ran into the house saying, 'Andrey, the house is on fire'. You know I was so scared I thought it was our house on fire, so I jumped outside."

Andrey stepped outside to discover his neighbor's home engulfed in flames.

"Then automatically my head turned to the east and I saw this house that our neighbor owns was all on fire, then we started hearing the windows popping out, probably from the pressure inside."

At the peak of the blaze, flames from this Salem house fire were visible from quite a distance. The modern age of technology allowed the fire to be called in quickly.

"I was about to call 911, but then I looked across the street and saw two other guys with cell phones and I knew they were calling it in."

In the end the old house probably wasn't too much of a loss. Witnesses told Salem-News.com that it was slated to be torn down soon.

Marion County Fire Battalion Chief Craig Losasso says there were no injuries and while final assessment isn't in, it appears that the fire may have started because of faulty electrical wiring. A firefighter at the scene reported seeing wires arcing upon their arrival.

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