
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 24, 1994                   TAG: 9406290058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

EXPLOSION, FIRE HIT SALEM HOME

About 1 p.m., 17-year-old Mike Jeffreys was listening to a song by the rock group Rush when he heard a loud explosion and saw smoke in his family's brick home in Salem.

"I was upstairs; it shook the whole house," said Jeffreys, who was alone at home. "The garage doors bowed out" from the explosion.

Moments before, he said, he saw lightning and heard thunder.

Jeffreys said he didn't stay in the house long. He grabbed the family collie and ran outside. He snagged a garden hose to spray the fire, but the effort was futile.

The explosion - which blew out the basement windows - may have been caused by the fire, said Salem Police Sgt. Eddie Hite. Salem fire officials continue to investigate the cause.

Apparently, the fire worked its way from the basement into the garage, the hallway and the attic. The home, at 2409 Karen Drive, sustained severe smoke and fire damage. Hite said Gary and Judy Jeffreys and their family were unable to move back in.

The fire was brought under control after about a half-hour. Hite said the firefighters' biggest problem was the extreme heat and the smoke. Firefighter Charlie Kirk was treated at Lewis-Gale Hospital for heat exhaustion.

by CNB