Salem was left largely unscathed as thunderstorms swarmed the Pacific Northwest Tuesday night — barring a power pole that a lightning strike set ablaze.
A Portland General Electric power pole near Southeast Kuebler Boulevard caught fire just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to Brian Carrara, deputy chief of administrative services for the Salem Fire Department. Otherwise, the department saw no lightning-related fires, he said.
PGE responded to the scene and found a lightning strike had burned the pole, which is being replaced. The transformer was not damaged, PGE spokeswoman Andrea Platt said Tuesday afternoon.
The fire occurred in the 5000 block of Southeast Caplinger Road.
From Tuesday evening into Wednesday, the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center recorded more than 5,200 lightning strikes across Oregon, the agency wrote in a tweet.
In the 24-hour period starting 8 a.m. Tuesday, the agency recorded 108 strikes in Marion County and 18 in Polk County, according to Carol Connolly, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Neither county saw a fire covering 100 acres or more during that period, Connolly said.
There were new 84 small fires totaling 118 acres in Oregon Tuesday, according to the agency’s morning briefing, but the center didn’t have data available about fires in specific areas of Oregon.
“Storms were wet, with some stations receiving up to .8 inch of precipitation which helped to keep new fires small,” the briefing said.
Existing large fires in the region gained 347 acres, according to the agency.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
JUST THE FACTS, FOR SALEM – We report on your community with care and depth, fairness and accuracy. Get local news that matters to you. Subscribe to Salem Reporter starting at $5 a month. Click I want to subscribe!
Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
