Blazes char 3 homes on a LR street

Fire marshal cites neighborhood spat

 The burned-out house at 2508 S. Summit St. can be seen in the background as Little Rock firefighters gather up their firehoses after battling a houe fire across the street at 2517 S. Summit St. Saturday morning
The burned-out house at 2508 S. Summit St. can be seen in the background as Little Rock firefighters gather up their firehoses after battling a houe fire across the street at 2517 S. Summit St. Saturday morning

— Investigators suspect conflict between neighbors sparked acts of arson, charring three houses on the same Little Rock block since Friday.

The fires took place at 2508 S. Summit St. early Friday morning and at 2515 S. Summit St. on Saturday. A vacant neighboring house at 2517 S. Summit St. burned later Saturday morning, said Barry Burke, assistant fire marshal of the Little Rock Fire Department.

Burke attributed the fires' cause to "some kind of squabble" between the two houses' residents.

The fires weren't the only trouble on the block last week.

On Thursday, at 12:45 a.m., a drive-by shooting targeted 2515, Little Rock police said. Resident Fred Walker was shot in the leg. No further information about his condition was available on Saturday.

No other crimes had recently been reported in that area, police said.

Little Rock's fire marshal is investigating who lives in the homes, which were empty at the time of the fires, said Capt. Jason Weaver, fire department spokesman.

The first blaze occurred after 4 a.m. Friday, Weaver said.

Firefighters returned to the area after 6 a.m. Saturday to put out the fire at 2515 S. Summit St., which is across the street and a house to the south of 2508 S. Summit St.

"It looked fine" when the firefighters left, but the vacant home caught fire soon afterward, because embers from the second blaze lodged in the attic, Burke said. Firefighters returned around 11 a.m. Saturday to put out the third fire.

"Things like that happen sometimes," Burke said an hour later. Officials estimated damage to 2508 S. Summit St. at $30,000 and to 2515 S. Summit St. at $50,000, Weaver said. There was no damage estimate for the other home, because it was vacant. An owner wasn't listed in the county's property records.

Pulaski County property records list Clayton H. Walker of Little Rock as the owner of 2515 S. Summit. Records list Paul Powers Atkinson III and Carol Ann Rohde and James Author, with a Denton,Texas, address, as the owners of the home of 2508 S. Summit.

On Saturday, as firemen worked around the eight fire department vehicles on the street off West Roosevelt Road, an old wooden chair and pair of Nikes sat on the porch of the blackened 2508 S. Summit St. home. Thick, wild weeds blanketed 2517's yard.

Across the street, a patina of soot coated a white Chevrolet Blazer.

"We just want it to be back to normal," said a woman taking care of her mother who has lived on the block for more than 30 years. The woman declined to be identified. "There's been enough fires," she said. "Momma just wants peace."

Arkansas, Pages 15, 16 on 08/30/2009

Upcoming Events