Man's body found in rural Arkansas home fire

The Crawford County sheriff's office continues to investigate the death early Monday of a man who was killed in a rural home fire.

Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jimmy Damante said the Arkansas medical examiner's office had not completed identification of the body firefighters found in the ruins of the home on Ozark Road near Rudy.

Sheriff's investigators were on the scene of the fire Tuesday but the still-hot embers were slowing their investigation into the cause and source of the fire, Damante said.

Exploding car fuel tanks and propane tanks made extinguishing the early morning fire dangerous for firefighters, although none of the 20 firefighters who responded to the scene were injured, Crawford County District 4 Fire Chief Darren Langley said.

Firefighters from Districts 1 and 4 and the Cedarville Fire Department were called to the fire at 5:11 a.m. A family member saw the home on fire, tried to make contact with the relative inside and called for help, Langley said.

He said fire crews were on the scene for about six hours.

Langley said the home, which was a camper with various additions built on, caught fire and caused seven vehicles parked around it to catch fire, as well. Some of the fuel tanks in the cars and multiple propane tanks exploded, hampering efforts to fight the fire.

The presence of the burning cars also blocked the firetrucks from getting near the residence. They were parked on the side of Ozark Road, where 350 feet of hose was rolled out to get water to the fire, Langley said.

Water had to be trucked in by District 1 and 4, but Langley said there was no shortage of water for the fire.

Metro on 10/12/2016

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