A Salem home has been damaged in a Tuesday afternoon fire.
No one was at the Barbara Rogers home at 1137 Howard Street when the fire was discovered.
Salem Assistant Fire Chief Bill Fulton says flames were shooting out three north-side second-story windows when they arrived. Two fire hoses from the ground quickly knocked down the flames and a crew went upstairs to extinguish the rest of the fire that started in a sitting room that was heavily damaged. The rest of the home sustained smoke and water damage.
Rogers had not been staying at the home following electric and water problems but had visited the home earlier in the day to retrieve some photos to keep them from getting moldy. Fulton says Rogers’ problems began last November when a small fire on the porch caused electrical problems. Before they could be fixed, some of the water lines froze and broke. The electricity had since been turned back on.
The State Fire Marshal’s office was called to try and determine how the fire started.
The fire call came in at 3:45 Tuesday afternoon with firemen on the scene until around six Tuesday night. Odin and Kell provided mutual aid on the scene, while the Centralia Fire Protection District and Kinmundy-Alma Firemen stood by at the Salem station in the event of another fire.
Fire damage to the north side of the second story of the home. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
