Wind, aridity drive fires in state, one fatal in Little Rock

Little Rock firefighters douse a fire at a house on Walpole Drive on Monday morning. The cause of the fire was unclear. Firefi ghters throughout Arkansas also fought wind-driven brush fires.
Little Rock firefighters douse a fire at a house on Walpole Drive on Monday morning. The cause of the fire was unclear. Firefi ghters throughout Arkansas also fought wind-driven brush fires.

Firefighters in the state fought strong winds, wildfires and a fatal house fire that killed an 87-year-old woman on Monday.

About 6:30 p.m., a house fire in the 2700 block of Fair Park Boulevard killed the woman and seriously injured another, Little Rock Police Department spokesman Steve McClanahan said. Their names weren't released.

The injured 53-year-old woman was in critical condition at a local hospital late Monday night.

High winds made fighting the fire tough at first, but Fire Department spokesman Jason Weaver said the wind "thankfully" weakened.

The fire shut down Fair Park Boulevard east of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for several hours Monday night. More than 30 firefighters, seven trucks and five pumpers responded.

The cause of the fire was unclear Monday, and Weaver said the house wouldn't be a total loss.

Monday's windy and dry conditions led to small wildfires in parts of the state, and eight counties had issued burn bans because of the gusting and aridity.

The Arkansas Forestry Commission had received 19 reports of fires that burned roughly 74 acres of land by late afternoon, according to agency spokesman Adriane Barnes.

Rural areas of Garland, Hot Spring, Calhoun and Union counties were among those affected by fires.

In Little Rock, a brush fire just west of the state Capitol left the air in the area hazy for several hours.

Barnes said "a handful" of the rural fires were still burning late Monday, but none had reportedly caused injuries or damaged homes.

Across Arkansas, the flames were whipped by sustained winds between 10 mph and 20 mph and gusts as high as 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service in North Little Rock. The Forestry Commission considers winds above 10 mph unsafe for burning.

The entire state was under moderate risk for wildfires Monday, and with no chance of rain forecast until early next week, the risk is likely to increase in some areas, according to Barnes. The counties under the burn bans were Boone, Carroll, Franklin, Fulton, Johnson, Logan, Madison and Polk.

February marked the beginning of one of Arkansas' two wildfire seasons, Barnes said. The first season typically runs from February to April. The second is between August and October.

"The reason is that during those two time periods we have dry vegetation paired with relatively low humidity," Barnes said. "Right now, vegetation is dry because it's still in winter dormancy, and we've also got gusty winds because the seasons are passing."

A cold front with a strong upper-level storm system entered the state overnight Sunday and brought the high winds, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Hood. The same system produced snow flurries in some parts of northern Arkansas, where humidity was between 30 and 50 percent.

Humidity was about 20 percent in southern Arkansas, where the Forestry Commission deployed air tankers to fight a blaze in Union County.

The brush fire in Little Rock was one of two downtown Monday. Firefighters responded to the state Capitol about 1 p.m., and they were still on the scene when the department was called to a wooded area south of West Sixth and Rice streets. The department found and quickly extinguished a small fire along a railroad, Weaver said.

Weaver said the cause of the brush fires hadn't been determined.

The Little Rock department also responded to fires Monday at Towne Oaks Apartments at 9300 Treasure Hill Road, and a house on Walpole Drive northeast of Geyer Springs and Baseline roads. A cooking accident appears to have caused the apartment fire, Weaver said.

The cause of the house fire was unclear. An investigation is ongoing.

North Little Rock firefighters also extinguished a fire at a vacant house on West 20th Street on Monday afternoon.

The Little Rock Fire Department told residents Monday via its Facebook page "to be extra cautious about the use of any source of ignition, including cigarettes and outdoor grills."

"With the dry conditions and high winds, you sort of anticipate some of this," Weaver said. "With these high winds, we're trying to urge the community to really be careful."

Pulaski County was not under a burn ban Monday. The bans are issued by county judges.

Wind gusts between 20 mph and 25 mph were forecast today across Arkansas.

Hood said there's a slight chance of rain next Monday and Tuesday in the state.

Metro on 02/09/2016

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