A smoldering fire between the first and second floors of a southeast Salem home was discovered Thursday morning when one of the children stepped through the floor.
Fortunately, Assistant Fire Chief Bill Fulton says she along with the other seven residents of the Jeff Borcherding home at 533 South Washington all got out safely.
“The alarm came out that we had a structure fire on South Washington Street. When we got here, the occupants were exiting the home telling us they had a fire on the second floor. We went up there and found a small fire in the middle of the second-floor flooring. It seems to be an electrical fire. We extinguished it, overhauled it, and tried to salvage as much as we could.”
Fulton explained how the child’s foot went through the floor.
“She was getting ready to get up for the morning. When she rolled out of bed her foot apparently her foot went through the floor in the area this had been burning under the floor joist.”
Fulton says there was mostly water damage to the first and second floors which resulted from firemen having to flood the area of the fire to make sure it was completely out since it had gotten into blown-in insulation.
The fire alarm came in at 8:16 Thursday morning, with firemen on the scene for just over an hour. Kell Firemen stood by at the Salem Fire Station in the event of another fire.
