Fire tears through the Building I at the Orchard Park Apartments in northeast Salem on Thursday, July 29, 2021. (Photo courtesy Marion Polk Crime, Traffic and Severe Weather Alerts)
UPDATE, 11:20 A.M.: This article was updated with additional details about the firefighter’s condition and housing for complex residents.
More than 100 people are without a home Friday morning after a three-alarm fire Thursday night swept through a northeast Salem apartment complex.
Fire crews responded just before 8 p.m. Thursday to a fire at the Orchard Park Apartments in the three-story Building I. The complex with 21 units is on Northeast Kasey Circle, just east of Interstate 5 and south of Northeast Ward Drive.
VIDEO: Northeast Salem apartment fire (Courtesy of Marion Polk Crime, Traffic and Severe Weather Alerts/Beth Van Patten)
More than 100 people are without a home Friday morning after a three-alarm fire Thursday night swept through a northeast Salem apartment complex.
Fire crews responded just before 8 p.m. Thursday to a fire at the Orchard Park Apartments in the three-story Building I. The complex with 21 units is on Northeast Kasey Circle, just east of Interstate 5 and south of Northeast Ward Drive.
“We are very fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed during this very fast spreading fire event at this complex,” said Assistant Chief Greg Hadley.
One firefighter was injured and taken to Salem Hospital and is in stable condition. Details about the injury or the identity of the firefighter weren’t disclosed in the fire agency’s statement.
The Red Cross and the Salem Housing Authority were working to provide temporary shelter for those displaced.
By 1 a.m. Friday, Salem Emergency Manager Greg Walsh said, all displaced residents were housed.
“Everyone had somewhere to go,” he said.
The fire was under control by 10:45 p.m. on Thursday and Walsh credits the building’s sprinkler system for saving the building and residents.
“They did what they’re supposed to do,” he said of the sprinkler system. “They got people out. The investigator said without the sprinklers, that building would have been a total loss.”
The Salem Fire Department Deputy Fire Marshal is currently investigating the cause of the fire.
As of Friday afternoon, there was no estimate of the damage. Walsh said the city building department is assessing the structural damage to the building to determine the viability of reoccupying the units.
Fire breaks through the roof line of a complex at the Orchard Park Apartments in northeast Salem on Thursday, July 29, 2021. (Salem Fire Department photo)
Fire tears through the Building I at the Orchard Park Apartments in northeast Salem on Thursday, July 29, 2021. (Photo courtesy Marion Polk Crime, Traffic and Severe Weather Alerts)
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