A 56-year-old Salem woman lost her life in a fire at her home Thursday afternoon.
Marion County Coroner Troy Cannon identifies the victim as Lisa Platz of 525 North Broadway.
Salem Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Bill Fulton says the two other occupants of the home, Bryan Weems and Joshua Turner, tried to get Platz out.
“The first two tried to do a rescue on the lady but she was not very mobile and they had a hard time and heat and smoke chased them out of the house before they could rescue her.”
An autopsy is planned for Friday to determine the cause of death, whether it was from the smoke or fire.
Fulton explains the fire situation upon arrival.
“When our first engine arrived we had the fire out the front and side windows of the front room on the first floor. We were made aware there was a victim located inside. We knocked the fire down and went in and located the victim and moved her to a safe location. Unfortunately, it was a fatality. From that, we used our aerial and went to the 2nd floor and took care of some fire up there. Finished knocking the rest of the fire down and then called the State Fire Marshall and got him involved.”
Fulton says it appears the fire started in the front downstairs room near the couch, but the State Fire Marshal still has the fire under investigation.
The fire call came in at 3:03 Thursday afternoon. Odin and Kell Firemen provided mutual aid on the scene, while Iuka stood by at the Salem Fire Station in the event of another fire. Most fire crews had cleared the scene by five pm.
Salem Firemen use an aerial truck to fight the fire on the second story of a home at 525 North Broadway. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
