2 suffer burns at abandoned house

Man, woman flown from Fort Smith to Children’s Hospital

A house at 608 N. 16th St. in Fort Smith is taped off after a fire broke out and injured a man and a woman in Fort Smith. The two were transported to Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith before being airlifted to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital burn unit in Little Rock.
A house at 608 N. 16th St. in Fort Smith is taped off after a fire broke out and injured a man and a woman in Fort Smith. The two were transported to Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith before being airlifted to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital burn unit in Little Rock.

FORT SMITH -- A man and woman were recovering in the burn unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock on Thursday after suffering injuries in a fire that started Wednesday afternoon in an abandoned Fort Smith house.

Elaine Muenchow, 45, and Henry Caldera, 51, suffered burns and smoke inhalation in the fire that was reported to the Fire Department just before 6 p.m.

Fire Capt. Carey St. Cyr said Caldera was able to escape the flames and get out of the house at 608 N. 16th St., but Muenchow was found unconscious in a closet or hallway by firefighters who arrived on the scene to fight the fire.

Firefighters and emergency medical personnel treated Muenchow at the scene before she and Caldera were transported to Sparks Regional Medical Center, he said. About an hour later, they were flown to Arkansas Children's.

Condition updates on Muenchow and Caldera were not available Thursday from the hospital.

Fire officials were trying Thursday to determine the cause of the fire that gutted a back bedroom in the house where the two appeared to be staying, Fire Marshal Ronnie Rogers said.

He said Muenchow and Caldera were homeless and had sought shelter in the abandoned house. The house had no electricity, gas or water service, St. Cyr said.

Rogers said often homeless people seeking shelter in an abandon house will start a fire for warmth.

About 20 firefighters responded to the alarm from five stations Wednesday, St. Cyr said, along with a ladder truck and rescue unit.

The Fort Smith Police Department blocked all five lanes of Grand Avenue from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. so the Fire Department could lay fire hoses across the street to supply water to fight the fire, according to a police news release.

NW News on 12/19/2014

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