Caldwell -
A Thursday afternoon fire in Caldwell claimed the life of a 56-year-old Wynne woman.
According to a report from the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, a call was received from the Cross County Sheriff's Office in regard to a fire on Hwy. 261, just after 1 p.m. Officers said in the report that deputies arrived on the scene at 1:16 p.m., and the home, owned by Frances Pitts, was fully engulfed.
Firefighters from Caldwell, Colt, Palestine and Newcastle were sent to the home where they found a body, later identified as Jo Ann Smith, a few feet from the front door. Officials said in the report that Smith's body and been badly burned.
Caldwell Fire Chief Shane Dallas said initial reports regarding the incident claimed there had been an explosion and fire.
"The first calls that came across from dispatch said there had been an explosion and fire at a home on Hwy. 261. When we arrived, we found Ms. Smith's body just inside the home. She had opened an inner door, but the door to the outside of the home was still locked and she was not able to get it open," said Dallas.
Dallas said state fire marshals and investigators were on the scene today.
"The fire is under investigation. Because there was a fatality, we contacted the state fire marshal and Arkansas State Police, and they have investigators on the scene this morning looking at everything. We do not have a cause of the fire at this point, and we have heard that it was a meth lab, but I don't think that was an issue at all. If that comes back as the case, I would be very surprised just based on what we saw at the scene while we were out there yesterday," said Dallas.
Dallas said close to 20 firefighters were on the scene for more than four hours fighting the blaze.
Smith's body was transported to the morgue and is being sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab, according to Dallas.
According to the report, Pitts told sheriff's department investigators that Smith cleaned the home for her once a week and had arrived at the home around 11 a.m. Pitts said she left the home shortly after Smith arrived to come to Forrest City and run some errands and returned to the home around noon. Pitts left again around 12:30 p.m. and was traveling to Jonesboro when she received a phone call about the fire.
