Electrical overload likely responsible for August fire that damaged south Salem mobile homes
Investigators were not able to determine definitively what caused a fire that heavily damaged two south Salem mobile homes and melted the vinyl siding of another last month.
But an electrical overload most likely triggered the blaze, according to a fire marshal investigation report obtained by Salem Reporter.
Neighbors first reported the fire at 6:35 p.m. the night of Aug. 10, at the end of a day which had reached a high of 100 degrees.
One firefighter was injured by the fire’s heat in combination with the temperature outside and sent to the hospital. He was released that same night, said Assistant Salem Fire Chief Brian Carrara at the time.
Fifteen vehicles and 34 firefighters responded to the blaze. Crews had the fire under control by 9 p.m., and stayed on the scene until just before midnight. The fire displaced two households and caused an estimated $600,000 in damage.
The fire began in or near the wall that separated the laundry room and main bedroom of 5043 Cumberland Ct. S.E., according to Jordan Wakem, a deputy fire marshal who investigated the incident for the Salem Fire Department. The resident had put a load of laundry in the dryer before heading out to dinner, and left an air conditioning unit and several fans running according to Wakem’s report.
Neighbors said they smelled smoke and burning plastic, and looked outside to see their neighbor’s house and half of the carport between their homes on fire. They attempted to quash it with a fire extinguisher, but the fire had grown too large.
A Jeep Grand Cherokee parked in the carport was “consumed throughout,” by the fire, with heavy damage to the front bumper. It burned hot enough that Wakem couldn’t read the license plate. The car belonged to the resident of the home where the fire began.
The home where the fire started was heavily burned.
Their neighbors’ home, which shared the carport, was burned heavily on one side. The vinyl siding of a third nearby home melted after vegetation caught fire next to it.
While investigating, Wakem saw that the dryer was plugged in and had burned clothing inside. Wiring had melted in the wall between the bedroom and the laundry room, and the floor in that spot had completely burned through.
Wakem ruled out smoking, arson and natural causes as likely causes of the fire. He said he could not definitively rule out electrical causes without consulting an electrician.
He listed the cause of the fire as undetermined, because the exact sequence of events that caused the combustion and spread could not be clearly traced.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
