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2 teens charged with delinquency after fire at former plant in Salem
By Kalea Hall
SALEM
The Salem Police Department charged two 17-year-old males from Lisbon after a Tuesday fire at the former Salem China plant on South Broadway Avenue.
The juveniles were charged with delinquency Thursday. The state Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating how the fire started.
Before the fire, police received a call at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday about a vehicle trespassing in the area. The caller was able to get the license plate number on the vehicle and gave it to police. The license plate number led to the two teenage boys.
The boys have cooperated with police.
The building, which was owned and used for storage by the Church Budget Envelope Co. of Salem, is a total loss. The company has not released any comment on the fire.
Salem Fire Chief Scott Mason said the contents of the building was valued at $1 million.
“We could have had the best water hydrants in the world, but we still would have needed more water,” he said.
Just to fight this fire, the Salem Fire Department logged 312 hours of overtime.
Fourteen other area fire departments helped in fighting the fire: Perry Township, Damascus, North Georgetown, Homeworth, Canfied, Hanover Township, Winona, Leetonia, Columbiana, Beloit, Sebring, Ellsworth, Franklin Township and the Salvation Army.
More than 2 million gallons of water were used to contain the fire. Firefighters are still watching hot spots, or small fires, at the site to make sure the fire does not restart.
Given how the fire was started, Mason reinforced how dangerous fire is.
“It can get out of control very easily,” he said.
No firefighters were injured. Community members and organizations brought food, water and coffee to help the firefighters.
“I would like to thank the community for all the outpouring of support,” Mason said.