FORREST CITY -
Firefighters have spent nearly 24 hours battling a blaze that destroyed several buildings Sunday along historic Front Street in Forrest City and also caused smoke damage to other nearby buildings.
Assistant Forrest City Fire Chief Anthony Renigar said firemen were called to Front Street at 12:39 p.m. Sunday by a driver who spotted smoke and flames coming from an abandoned building.
"We got the initial call at around 12:40 p.m. yesterday from a gentleman from Atlanta who was over near the courthouse and saw all of the smoke and flames coming from the building. He stopped and called us and also started videotaping everything, and we got here shortly after," said Renigar from the scene this morning.
Once firefighters arrived, Renigar said the call went out to all local firefighters and calls for assistance were made to several departments in the county, along with the Wynne and Marianna fire departments.
"We had guys from seven departments down here yesterday and three ladder trucks. Wynne and Marianna each sent their ladder trucks and we called in Caldwell, Colt, Palestine and Newcastle for assistance," said Renigar.
Once at the scene, firefighters were met with intense heat along with explosions from the vacant building. The heat from the inferno was such that fire trucks and personal vehicles had to be repositioned for safety reasons. A vehicle parked at nearby apartment building was destroyed by the intense heat which melted the headlights and grill.
"The heat was just intense. We had to reposition all of our equipment due to the heat and we also had to deal with explosions from within the building," said Renigar.
Capt. Thurlo Ward said the heat forced him to move his personal vehicle several times just to get out to fight the blaze.
"It was hot. When I initially arrived at the scene the heat was so intense that I had to move three different times, just to get out of my vehicle and get my gear on," said Ward.
Ward and Renigar each said they were unsure what may have been exploding inside the buildings.
"There may have been some old propane tanks in the building or other tanks or cans that could explode. But the truth is, it was so hot that anything inside could have exploded," said Ward.
"There may have been paint cans or paint thinner in the building that was left from previous tenants, and there's no telling what people may have taken inside there that may have caused the fire or been part of the explosions," said Renigar.
Officials have not determined what caused the fire but Mayor Larry Bryant offered his own ideas.
"I think it was probably someone in there smoking, or it could have been someone cooking meth or some other drugs and it exploded on them. I had asked that we keep an eye on the buildings because we knew that people were going in and out of them and that it was unsafe, but we must not have been keeping a good enough eye on them," said Bryant.
Renigar said officials were in the vacant buildings last week and found signs that people had been living inside them.
"I came down with Connie (Muqtasid, Code Enforcement Officer) last week to check on the building because we had been getting reports of vagrants in here. When we came in, there was no one here but you could see that they had been in here. There were a couple of old mattresses and some other things, and we were actively trying to catch someone in here so we could tell them to stay out. There were efforts made to secure the building by boarding it up and such, but every time it would get boarded up they'd either take the boards down or find another way in," said Renigar.
Renigar said there were only minor injuries to himself and a member of the Newcastle Fire Department and that officials have not found any bodies inside of the buildings at this point. Renigar said officials rotated manpower in and out throughout the night and made sure that firefighters stayed hydrated and rested as much as they could.
Entergy and Centerpoint Energy officials spent the night at the scene, according to Renigar, due to danger from a main electrical line system which powers several offices downtown and a gas main connected to the office building that housed the law office of Sharpe, Beavers, Cline and Wright.
"We were really worried about the gas main on the north side of that building because it doesn't have a shut off, and if that thing had gone, we'd all have been gone. We also had those electrical lines that run through the alley and provide power to much of downtown. We kept those soaked down and were able to avoid any problems there," he said.
Smoke was a major issue throughout the night and may have damaged several of the offices near the fire.
"I'm sure the apartment building and those residents will have a lot of smoke damage, and the owner of Mallards said they have smoke damage. There's also probably smoke damage at the Abstract Building and over at the Housing Authority. To be honest, there was one point last night where there was zero visibility all from here throughout downtown and you couldn't even see down to Hill Street," said Renigar.
Another issue firefighters had to deal with was several fires across the area at the same time as the downtown fire. Renigar said at least one of those was a brush fire on Turner Road.
"While we were trying to fight this mess down here, guys had to leave the scene to go and assist with a grass fire out near the old Players Club where someone set two acres on fire and burned down a shed. I know we don't have a burn ban on right now, but it would really be nice if people avoided outside burning until we at least get a good rain," said Renigar.
St. Francis County Office of Emergency Services Coordinator Shane Dallas, who also serves as a firefighter in Forrest City and as chief in Caldwell, said it would be appreciated if people would avoid burning right now.
"The KBDI hasn't reached the point where we issue a burn ban, but with the conditions we have and the fact that every firefighter in the area has spent 24 hours fighting this fire, we'd appreciate it if people could avoid burning," said Dallas.
County officials assisted firefighters last night by providing lighting, and County Search and Rescue officials were at the scene on standby throughout the day Sunday.
The fire brought out many onlookers, many parking and watching for hours. It also brought out the best in many local residents and business owners according to Renigar.
"I can't thank this community enough for the support they have shown since yesterday. We had business people bringing Gatorade and water donated by businesses. Residents came down with cool towels and water and food. A restaurant donated burgers, and people brought all kinds of food and snacks down just to keep us going. They'll never know how much we appreciate that," said Renigar.
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courtesy Times-Herald of Forrest City
