HOT SPRINGS - Three men were questioned by National Park Service rangers Friday afternoon in connection with a fire that was discovered on West Mountain off the west end of Whittington Avenue.
Hot Springs National Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez identified the men as Chris Killian, 36, of Sherwood, Raymond Shields, 21, of Malvern, and James Garner, 38, of Malvern.
Killian and Shields were turned over to the Hot Springs Police Department because of outstanding warrants and were not charged in connection with the fire.
Charges will be filed later against Garner, Fernandez said.
“National Park Service rangers investigating an apparent gun discharge and a suspicious vehicle off Black Snake Road encountered an intentionally set fire on the western slope of West Mountain Friday afternoon,” Fernandez said in a news release.
She said the fire, which was about 1.5 acres in size, was quickly contained by Park Service firefighters with help from the Hot Springs Fire Department.
The afternoon’s events started with the reports about shady activity.
“According to [Park Service] Ranger Jeff Johnson, incident commander, the park rangers were investigating suspicious activity in an area of the national park known for metal scrapping and artifact hunting. After a nearly one hour search, which included the use of the [Park Service] canine unit, the rangers could not locate anyone and regrouped by the roadside,” Fernandez said.
“Soon thereafter, however, two individuals were noticed coming out of the woods and walking down the road toward an Ford F-150 truck owned by an individual previously cited for drug activity and metal scrapping. When the two men were contacted, they admitted to scrapping for metal, and when the vehicle was searched, drug paraphernalia was found,” the release said.
According to Fernandez, Killian and Shields said the drug paraphernalia belonged to a third individual who was with them in the woods. She said both men had outstanding warrants from the Hot Springs Police Department and were taken into custody.
While interviewing Killian and Shields, Fernandez said a third person, identified as Garner, walked out of the woods and admitted to scrapping with the other two.
“When we checked, he had no outstanding warrants and just about the time we were about to let him go, we noticed a plume of smoke in the woods,” Johnson is quoted as saying in the release.
“When I asked him if he knew anything about it, Garner said, ‘Yeah, I set that fire,’” Johnson said, noting that Garner claimed to have set the fire because he had been separated from Killian and Shields.
Garland County was placed under a burn ban early Friday by County Judge Rick Davis.
According to the Arkansas Forestry Commission’s website, 17 counties, including Garland County, have issued burn bans. All of the counties but Garland County are in moderate or high wildfire danger classifications.
Arkansas, Pages 19 on 02/23/2014