Salem Fire Protection District firemen say a top breaking off a tall tree caused electrical problems for a Salem resident on Wednesday afternoon.
Firemen say the tree fell onto a power line serving the Darrell Smith home in the 1400 block of North Rotan. It broke a pole and caused a flash fire in the utility room that went out when the breaker for the home kicked in.
Firemen turned off both electricity and natural gas until they could be checked by Ameren Illinois and city crews.
The fire call came in just after two Wednesday afternoon.
