Improperly Disposed of Cigarette Leaves Salem Family of 10 Homeless
North Salem High School Junior 17-year-old Alladin Domenden who lives in the home at 1135 Madison Street NE, said he woke up around 5:45 a.m. to his parents yelling, FIRE, FIRE!
(SALEM, Ore. ) — A three alarm house fire in Salem early Wednesday morning has left a Salem family of 10 homeless, and Salem Fire Department officials are warning residents that with the recent and continued warm and dry weather, to make sure that any flammable materials are properly disposed of.
North Salem High School Junior 17-year-old Alladin Domenden who lives in the home at 1135 Madison Street NE, said he woke up around 5:45 a.m. to his parents yelling, FIRE, FIRE!
He jumped out of his bed, and he and his four sisters and two brothers all raced down the stairs and out of the house. His parents grabbed their one year old daughter out of the crib she was sleeping in, and all ten made it out safe.
Domenden said once out, they went to the back of the home, he saw flames shooting up the back of the home, and the deck was on fire as well. He said that there was an ashtray for cigarettes on the deck, next to a box, and it looked to him like that a improperly disposed of cigarette set the box on fire and spread to the back of the home and deck.
Firefighters from Salem, Keizer, Marion and Polk Counties battled the blaze and hotspots throughout the morning hours. Red Cross was called in to help the family with food, shelter, and other needs.
Salem Fire Deputy Fire Marshall Laird Case said what made this fire so tough to battle was the construction of the home.
No injuries were reported, and Case did not have a cost estimate of the damage done by the fire.
Case did credit smoke alarms in the home for alerting the family to the fire, and waking them up. He said that the fire did appear to start on the deck area near the back door of the home, but investigators were still trying to determine if a improperly disposed of cigarette or other flammable material was the exact cause of the fire.
So far this summer, the Salem Fire Department has responded to an average of 2 to 3 fires a day throughout the city, that may, or were caused by cigarettes or other flammable materials being discarded while still burning into dry grass or brush, Case said.
With the weather forecast calling for dry and warm weather to continue in the mid-Willamette Valley over the next week, Case urged everyone to make sure that any flammable materials are properly put out, and discarded.
Video from the scene Wednesday morning by Salem News Journal photographer Jerry Freeman:
