Jennifer Carman still thinks of the Pfeifer House, a pale green Italiante home that once stood at 908 Scott St., nearly every day.
She had been excited to restore the house, which was built in the 1870s, and headquarter her art appraisal business there. But on a sunny Saturday afternoon in April 2015, the house went up in flames. She still doesn't know why.
"I still can't quite wrap my head around what happened," Carman said in an email last week. "It was a cherished building that was well-secured with new locks and security doors. I visited the property almost every day."
The cause of the blaze was officially undetermined, though Carman said she suspects human intervention because though rehabilitation was underway, there were no electrical or gas utilities turned on. Carman was in a different part of the city when the fire started.
Carman's experience wasn't the first mysterious fire in the area near downtown Little Rock, and it wasn't the last. Last weekend, two historic homes in the city's Quapaw Quarter were damaged by fires overnight: a home at 1409 Wolfe St., which had been under rehabilitation, and a home at 1419 Commerce St., which was constructed in the 1880s.
Little Rock Fire Chief Delphone Hubbard provided a list of 13 incidents at 10 houses that the department considers "fires of interest" in the Quapaw Quarter over the past six months. The department flagged those fires because of the materials being burned, a pattern of incidents or another factor. Three of the houses were under renovation.
Hubbard said the department is still working to determine what caused those 13 fires and has asked the state fire marshal's office for a higher-level investigation.
Fires happen all over the city, but blazes in historic homes pose a unique challenge for firefighters, said Bo Hagar, the Little Rock Fire Department accreditation manager.
Those homes are constructed almost completely from old lumber, which causes the fire to spread through the home faster than it would in newer developments. Older homes that are more at risk for this are more common in east and southwest Little Rock, while newer housing in west Little Rock is made from materials that take longer to reach high temperatures, he said.
Additionally, structures in downtown and east Little Rock are generally closer together than in neighborhoods in other parts of the city, adding to the risk of fires spreading, Hagar said.
Entering old, vacant houses can be risky for firefighters. The floor might not be stable, or there may be illegal activity taking place within.
"Vacant structures are one of the biggest blind challenges you face as a firefighter," Hubbard said.
The recent blazes inspired city officials and preservation advocates to contact the Fire Department. When a home in the 1400 block of Spring Street was destroyed by flames in the morning of Feb. 1, Missy McSwain could only imagine how terrifying the blaze must have been for people in apartments directly north of the fire.
"We are so fortunate that no one has been injured or killed in any of these fires -- yet," McSwain, who lives in Little Rock's MacArthur Park neighborhood, said in an email.
McSwain has seen fires at houses near her own, including at the long-vacant one at 1019 Rock St. in early 2019.
"When we lose a structure in our historic areas, we lose a building that can never be replaced, and that loss diminishes the integrity of the districts, and one more piece of our city's history is gone forever," she said.
Patricia Blick, executive director of the Quapaw Quarter Association, said she reached out to the Fire Department after the fire. She wanted to start a dialogue, and figure out ways to better secure and monitor the vacant buildings.
One idea is surveillance in those buildings -- installing electricity and Wi-Fi so that if a fire detector goes off, the Fire Department is immediately notified. That would be a modification to city code, which requires no electricity in vacant buildings.
Blick said the organization and others interested in historic preservation plan to review the city's roster of unsafe and vacant historic properties, which contains about 500 structures, then reach out to code enforcement to ensure that they are secured, as well as to the property owners to let them know of the concerns.
Though preservation advocates made Fire Department officials aware of their concerns in the past couple of weeks, Hubbard said officials were already looking into a high number of trash and grass fires in the area. In the Quapaw Quarter, these often take place at vacant structures and can sometimes lead to a structure fire.
For instance, a structure fire at a house at 515 E. 15th St. was preceded by two smaller fires outside it, according to information from the department.
Hubbard said he encourages residents to call 911 when they see someone burning something in a yard -- the department will be able to confirm whether someone is adhering to a burn permit -- and if they see someone on a vacant property who shouldn't be there.
It costs about $400 to board up a building without major structural issues, such as a missing wall, and between $4,000 and $6,000 to demolish a building and remove the debris, Blick said.
"From our perspective, it is a better economic choice to really secure the vacant buildings early on, than to wait and then require demolition," Blick said. "Not to mention the fact that if the vacant building can get back into service -- become occupied -- it will generate income for the city through property taxes."
Hubbard said he's aware that community members can have varying -- and often passionate -- views on whether older buildings should be retained or demolished.
Though historic houses themselves aren't always expensive to acquire, renovation costs can add up, meaning the structures stay vacant for longer. Hagar said the department would like to see financial assistance for revitalization in the area.
But overall, Hubbard said, safety comes first.
"Our position is just life safety," he said. "Is the integrity of the structure worth it continuing to stand?"
SundayMonday on 02/23/2020