Weekend fires have razed six vacant houses in Swifton since January, and police are asking residents to watch for any suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.
Police Chief Shannon Webb said each fire seems to have been deliberately set. None of the houses had utility services hooked up at the time.
"I think we're suspecting arson in every one of them," Webb said.
The first fire occurred early on Jan. 3. Three weeks later, a second vacant house burned in the Jackson County town of 780 people. The latest fire was reported on April 24.
All of the six fires began between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on weekends, Webb said. There was no stormy weather with lightning on any of the nights that may have sparked the blazes, he said.
"There are very distinguishing patterns," the chief said. "Each was at the same time and on a weekend. A house with no utilities doesn't catch on fire by itself -- unless it is assisted."
Swifton Fire Chief Rusty Kinder said he has called the Arkansas State Police for assistance, and that agency will send a fire marshal to investigate the charred remains of the houses. He has not determined whether accelerants were used to start the fires. He said each seemed to have started in the rear rooms of the vacant structures.
"It's a burden," Kinder said of the volunteer Fire Department battling the blazes. "If we got a house fire call while we were at a vacant house, it would delay our response time."
No one has been injured in the fires, Kinder said, and no neighboring homes have been damaged.
"We've had to put up 'fire curtains,'" he said, referring to continuous sprays of water between a burning house and a nearby one to protect the neighboring structure from the flames.
Swifton Mayor Craig Crider has been to three of the fires. He is among the city's volunteer firefighters. He is also an agricultural pilot and said he can't go fight fires when he has to get up early to spray crops the next morning.
He said he was shifted some police officers' hours to ensure that someone is on duty in case a fire begins.
Before the series of blazes began, "we had someone on until 1 a.m.," the mayor said. "Now, on the weekends, we have him working until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m."
He said no fires have occurred when an officer's car is parked outside the city's shop building at night.
"He sees that car and knows someone is patrolling," Crider said of the arsonist.
Crider said the fires have been in two areas of town -- along West Second Street on the western edge and in a neighborhood on the eastern side.
Firefighters found a man's driver's license in one of the burned houses. Police questioned the man but did not arrest him.
"He said he lost the license somewhere," Crider said.
Webb has asked residents to report anything they consider suspicious to police.
Carol Counce has seen two fires close by her Lola Street home. One vacant house burned next-door, and one fire was across the street from her home.
"It is frightening when you wake up and see something orange and smell smoke," she said. "It's a scary situation."
She added, "something's going on."
State Desk on 05/05/2016