SALEM, OR (KPTV) -
A Salem apartment fire spiraled out of control and left more than a dozen people looking for a new place to sleep Thursday.
Fire crews say the fire started in one unit of a building on Stoneway Drive Northwest just after 6:45 p.m. and quickly spread.
Fire investigators say it was an off-duty firefighter who was nearby and called in the fire. Within a few minutes, crews elevated the call to a three-alarm fire because of the fire's intensity.
Crews were able to get things under control within 40 minutes, but not before the fire caused extensive damage to all three floors of the building and heavy damage to the back exterior side.
Crews believe the fire started on the first floor inside of the unit and then broke out the back windows. The fire then traveled up to the second floor and got into the windows in that unit and continued up to the third floor and into the attic.
Crews say no one was hurt in the fire.
A total of 17 people have been displaced. The Red Cross is providing them with assistance.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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