FAYETTEVILLLE -- A rash of fires destroyed three homes and damaged two others this week, Washington County Fire Marshal Dennis Ledbetter said.
"This is fire season. You've got people trying to stay warm," Ledbetter said.
Fire Season Facts
December, January and February are the leading months for home heating fires. Overall, heating equipment is the second leading cause of U.S. home fires and home fire deaths. In 2011, heating equipment was involved in about 53,600 U.S. home structure fires and linked to 400 deaths. The fires account for 14 percent of all reported home fires.
Source: National Fire Protection Association
Icy roads, freezing temperatures, poorly constructed homes and attempts to stay warm contribute to the fires, he said. Fire destroyed three homes Thursday and Friday. A home on West Devils Den Road burned last Saturday and a grass fire damaged another home that day, Ledbetter said.
Washington County lifted its fire hazard warning Thursday after about 30 days, Ledbetter said. Benton and Washington counties aren't under burn bans, according to the Arkansas Forestry Commission website Friday.
In the most-recent house fire, a family of four lost everything at 5 a.m. Friday, said Gary Hull, fire chief of Nob Hill Fire Department.
"We lost the house," Hull said. "Weather conditions definitely played a part of this."
Flames were coming through one wall of the home at 23171 Hickory Flat Road when firefighters arrived, Hull said. The family escaped after the mother heard the smoke detector and grabbed her two young children, Ledbetter said. The father had already left for work.
Hull didn't release the name of the family. The property is owned by Jermy and Cynthia Asbury and valued at $57,100, according to Washington County property records.
Fayetteville firefighters put out a fire in a mobile home at 12:36 a.m. Friday at 7378 W. Wedington Drive, said Mauro Campos, battalion chief and spokesman for the Fayetteville Fire Department. A man and woman were asleep when the fire broke out, but got out, he said.
The pair rented the home, Campos said. The home is owned by David and Kelly Ruff with a Prairie Grove mailing address, county property records show. No value is estimated by the county. Campos said the home isn't inhabitable.
A home in the Whitehouse area owned by Jimmy and Cari Ruth burned Thursday afternoon, Ledbetter said. About 10 people lived in the house, worth $52,650, and no one was hurt, he said. Firefighters arrived at 2:07 p.m. Thursday to see flames shooting through the roof at 15806 Low Gap Road, Ledbetter said.
"When we got there, the second floor was already caving in," he said.
The fires burned the homes quickly, firefighters said. The causes of the fires Thursday and Friday remain under investigation, firefighters said.
Hull said he believed the Nob Hill home may have caught fire from a wall heater. Ledbetter said the fire started in the basement of the home.
The Whitehouse area home was an older home and had space heaters and a fire in the fireplace going, Ledbetter said. Campos said the mobile home was an older home, but heating equipment wasn't a factor.
Rural roads remain icy in Washington County and hampered their efforts, firefighters said. Most main roads are clear, but some dirt roads remain slick, Ledbetter said.
"It's just part of being out in the country," he said.
On Friday morning, Nob Hill firefighters fought the fire for 3 1/2 hours, then found they couldn't get a fire truck out of the driveway for more water, Hull said.
"The road conditions were just terrible getting in and out of the house," Hull said. "The driveway was just a skating rink. It was just solid ice."
Washington County employees delivered gravel to the home's driveway to help the fire trucks, Hull said.
NW News on 02/21/2015