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.