Fire destroyed a car and heavily damaged a camper at the Stephen Wilkerson home in the 3300 block of Townhouse Road northwest of Salem Monday afternoon.
Salem Fire Protection District officials say they were initially called to a report of an SUV on fire in the driveway. By the time firemen arrived, Fire Marshal Bill Fulton says the SUV was totally engulfed in flames and the radiant heat had started the 16 foot camper on fire. While the camper received heavy damage on
one end, firemen were able to stop the fire before it burned to the end that was parked very close to both the house and a detached garage.
The fire started in the engine compartment of the SUV, but exactly how is undetermined. The SUV had been started a short time earlier and reportedly turned off before Wilkerson used a different vehicle to go to town. His dad who was napping woke up to the smell of smoke and discovered the fire along with a neighbor who called the fire department.
Fulton says because of the number of exposures, Odin Firemen were called to the scene for mutual aid and Kinmundy-Alma Firemen stood by at the Salem station in the event of another fire.
The fire alarm came in just after three Monday afternoon. Firemen were on the scene for about an hour.
