December 11, 2007 - 2-Alarm Apartment Fire, Court Street NE

On Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 8:22 am, the Salem Fire Department responded to a smoke in a structure  call at 685 Court Street NE, the YMCA.

When firefighters arrived on scene, they discovered smoke coming from the second floor of this three story brick building. This portion of the YMCA is used for apartments. A second alarm was called at 8:25 am bringing more firefighters and equipment to the scene.

When firefighters entered the structure they first discovered fire in the stairwell. They were able to quickly extinguish this fire. The main portion of the fire was a chair that was inside the stairwell. They also discovered a small fire in an apartment that fire fighters were able to extinguish before it could spread.

Firefighters had the fire under control within 15 minutes of their arrival. All portions of the YMCA were evacuated during the incident including the main YMCA, apartments and child care center.

The occupant stated that when he came home, his smoke detector was going off. He discovered the fire in the chair and used a portable fire extinguisher to try to extinguish the fire. He thought he had it extinguished when he took the chair out into the stairwell where it reignited.

Two male occupants were treated by paramedics on the scene, one for smoke inhalation and the other for minor burns and smoke inhalation.

The loss is estimated at $20,000. Salem Fire Investigators determined that the fire was started by a lit cigarette that had dropped into the chair and ignited while the occupant was gone.

Scene Photos

Click on the picture for a larger view