A fire that is believed to have started from spontaneous combustion in large logs stored outside Top Notch Tree Service on East Main Street in Salem is under control, but is expected to burn out over the next few days.
Salem Assistant Fire Chief Bill Fulton says the city used a track hoe to split the burning trees from those not on fire to keep the fire from spreading. He says flames were shooting from the trees upon their arrival.
“Found was part of the pile of debris that they bring in form the tree service was on fire towards the very south end. It’s all interconnected, so what we tried to do is put a stop between it and the major part of the pile. It would be hard to get the whole pile completely disposed of and put out.”
The fire department was later assisted by Salem Public Works who brought an end loader to the scene to cut a bigger gap between the burning and non-burning trees. The city then pushed together the burning trees so they could be allowed to burn themselves out.
Fulton believes he knows the cause of the fire.
“We think the cause is spontaneous combustion. With all the moisture and the different kind of debris we found in the pile.”
Since there was no fire hydrant in the immediate area, the fire departments trucked water to the front of the tree service into large containers. The water was then moved to the fire scene for multiple lines of water placed on the fire.
Salem Firemen were helped by Iuka, Kinmundy-Alma, and Kell Firemen on the scene. Odin Firemen stood by at the Salem station and answered a call about a possible truck fire.
Firemen first received the call at 4:45 Thursday morning from a passerby who believed there was a building on fire. Firemen remained on the scene 9:24 Thursday morning.
East Main or U.S. 50 was closed from Shelby to County Farm Road during the firefighting effort.
