Fire investigators in North Little Rock believe as many as 18 fires in the Rose City area over the last 10 months may have been intentionally set, and one person may be responsible for the bulk of the blazes.
No one has been injured in the fires, which were all set at houses that were either being renovated or were vacant, said Chief Warren Almon of the North Little Rock Fire Marshal’s Office.
While Almon couldn’t say how many of the fires were set by the same person, the blazes share similar characteristics, including being started on an exterior wall, near a door or window and set at the rear of houses, Almon said.
Investigators also confirmed that ignitable liquids were used in some cases and there are no obvious signs indicating accidental causes. Evidence from each of the fires has been turned over to the Arkansas State Crime Lab, Almon said.
“If the person responsible is setting multiple fires, they have put thought into them and cases the area,” Almon told The Democrat-Gazette.
The fires started in May and have happened periodically through February, with seven being set in an area bordered by Healy Avenue, Roseclair Drive, Graham Avenue and Alpha Street, and 10 in an area bounded by Boggs Street, Coral Street, and U.S. 70. One fire took place near Prairie Street and Mosely Street.
A few of the buildings have been targeted more than once, Almon said.
“Maybe one or two of these fires could have been accidental,” Almon said. “Two or three of these fires appear to have been intentionally set, but not by the same person as many of the others.”
Each of the fires happened in homes that were unoccupied at the time and some of the structures were being renovated, while others were boarded up, Almond said. Some were vacant and just not being lived in at the time of the fire.
A house at 4501 Haywood St. caught fire on Aug. 10 — one of three house fires that morning within a half-hour and a mile of each other in the Rose City area. The Haywood Street building went up first at 12:21 p.m., followed by fires at 99 Water St. eight minutes later at 12:29 p.m., then 211 Mosely St. at 12:53 p.m.
Tripp Pugmire, who owned and was renovating the Haywood Street house and owns other properties in the neighborhood, said the building, with an assessed value of $56,000, didn’t have gas or electrical service turned on yet. It was being renovated and prepared to be put on the market as a rental.
A neighbor called as he got out of church with word of the blaze.
“It just happened so randomly,” Pugmire said.
The house next door was also vacant and wasn’t lit on fire, Pugmire said.
What remained of the house was a blackened shell, with debris stacked up in the yard near the remains of the front porch. Pugmire said the home was a total loss and has since been torn down.
“We had to pay a decent amount to demolish it and haul it away,” Pugmire said. “Now, it’s just a vacant lot.”
Gary Williams, the assistant fire marshal, said fires at vacant houses can become dangerous, in part, because buildings in the area are as close as 20 feet apart, making it easy for flames to jump from one structure to another.
“Fire has no respect when it comes to property lines,” Williams said.
Some of the homes that were set on fire didn’t have insurance because they were vacant at the time, Williams said. The assessed values of the burned properties range from $34,000 to $77,000.
Almon said each of the houses that were burned had different owners and there appears to be no financial motive for the fires. And, with the series of blazes, the only theory as to the cause that can’t be disproven is that someone intentionally set them, he said.
“There is evidence that points to incendiary,” Almon said.
Almon said if one person is responsible for the fires, the person may have experimented with different techniques, including what incendiary materials to use, where on a house to set the fire and how to flee the area undetected.
“They may come back to the area but need to approach from a different direction,” Almon said. “This is speculation to some degree, but there is evidence that some similar fires in the area did use gasoline and some did not.”
Tips and information from the community are helpful in solving the question of who is starting these fires, but so far, reaction from residents has been mixed, Almon said. Some people have been helpful, even assisting in putting out the fires, while others don’t want to get involved, he said.
So far, no one has come through with information that’s led to an arrest.
“I suspect some people might even help a person of interest I am looking at by tipping them off,” Almon said.