Suspicious Fire Destroys 7 Schools Buses

Oregon - Salem Fire Department received a call for a commercial fire at 998 Hawthorne Ave NE, Salem-Keizer School District Bus Garage at 5:56 am on Tuesday, December 17, 2006. Captain Robin Chitwood stated, "When we arrived we had multiple busses on fire. We made aggressive attacks on both ends of the line of buses."

A second alarm was dispatched at 6:00 am bringing more fire apparatus and fire fighters to the scene.

It took Fire Fighters approximately 20-minutes to have the fire under control. 7 busses were destroyed, but a total of 11 received damage.

No injuries were reported. A damage estimate is currently not available. Fire investigators are on the scene.

Written and photos by Salem Fire Dept.