PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The fire that roared through Oregon’s largest recycler of wood pallets in Salem on Monday morning has been contained.
The Salem Fire Department confirmed this was a 4-alarm fire. Firefighters were able to save all the buildings from the blaze and contained it to avoid any impact on nearby businesses.
An explosion occurred around 3 a.m. that woke up Judith Lomeli, a nearby neighbor.
“It sounded like gunshots and then I looked out the window and then you could just see this big, kind of like an explosion-type thing,” she said.
The fire reportedly swept through the pallet yard at the Oregon Pallet company on Industrial Drive.
“We lost our grinder, our excavator and we lost our pallet yard on this side,” said Oregon Pallet owner Carly Taylor.
All manufacturing equipment was saved.
Taylor told KOIN that no employees were on the property over the weekend. She said the company is insured and no one was hurt.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
KOIN 6 News will update this story as soon as possible.
