SALEM, Ore. — A four-alarm fire that shattered a Salem business last week started in the basement 

Flames erupted Thursday at McMahan’s Furniture at State and Commercial streets in downtown Salem.The fire was so strong that crews were forced to recoil and assault it from the outside. The building smoldered all through the weekend. Damage was predictable at $1.25 million. 

Fire investigators had their first chance Tuesday to go inside the building. They say it started in the vault, but the precise cause is not yet known.