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

DATE: TUESDAY, November 8, 1994                   TAG: 9411080133
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LAUNDRY BIN BELIEVED CAUSE OF FIRE

Spontaneous combustion of a bin of laundry may have been the cause of a fire at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salem Monday night.

Salem fire lieutenant Jim Clifton said the fire, which was contained to the laundry building, had been all but extinguished by building sprinklers when firefighters arrived.

Clifton said workers had left the building at 4:30 Monday afternoon, and no one was injured.

From the preliminary investigation, Clifton said, he believes a load of laundry, placed in a bin directly after leaving a dryer, was hot enough to catch fire spontaneously.

The building itself was not severely damaged, he said, but much of the laundry equipment may have been destroyed by water.

by CNB