Copyright 2006 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.
Homes burned, residents moved as 40-plus blazes seen in 31 counties
By ANDY DAVIS and RICHARD MASSEY
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, Ark.)
HAMBURG, Ark. — Strong winds helped whip up wildfires around the state on Sunday, burning at least four houses in Ashley County and prompting authorities to briefly evacuate 30 families from a trailer park in Texarkana.
The largest fire, estimated by one forestry official at 6,000 acres on Sunday evening, burned at least four houses southeast of Hamburg, along with two camping trailers and two outbuildings, said Jerry Lambert, a spokesman for the Arkansas Forestry Commission.
Authorities said it was the state’s largest wildfire in several years.
The commission’s Web site reported that residents along Arkansas 8 in Ashley County were being evacuated and that a command post was being established in Hamburg. Forestry commission officials didn’t have further details on the evacua- tions.
Forest rangers were also fighting a nearby fire in the county burning on about 200 acres, said Larry Nance, the commission’s deputy state forester.
A separate fire, estimated at 1,000 to 2,000 acres, started in Louisiana and crossed into Arkansas on Sunday evening. Fire crews from Louisiana were handling the blaze, Nance said.
The fires prompted authorities to close a portion of Arkansas 133 south of Crossett and reroute traffic to U.S. 425, said Kathy Hedrick, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
In Texarkana, a fire on Sunday afternoon burned about 70 acres of grass and woods in an industrial and residential area near the Texarkana Regional Airport, prompting firefighters to evacuate the trailer park for about two hours, said Rick Pavick, the training chief for the Texarkana Arkansas Fire Department.
The fire burned part of a warehouse before it was put under control by about 120 firefighters, including state forest rangers and firefighters from 11 surrounding fire departments, Pavick said.
State forest rangers were also battling a 300- to 400-acre fire at Sugarloaf Mountain south of Fort Smith, a 200- to 300-acre fire in Grant County near Redfield and a 100-acre fire at Spring Mountain in Yell County, Nance said.
Another fire burned about 300 acres of private property in Pike County, said forestry commission spokesman Jim Grant.
No injuries were reported in any of the fires.
The large fire near Hamburg measured five to six miles from north to south and two miles from east to west at its widest point, said Nance. Forest rangers and firefighters from several departments battled the fire with 11 bulldozers and dropped foam from two airplanes, according to the forestry commission Web site.
Most of the land scorched is owned by Plum Creek Timber Company, said Stephanie Price, the Ashley County forester with the Arkansas Forestry Commission.
Hot spots in the forest could smolder for a while.
“We’ll have to watch this for a few days or even a few weeks,” Price said.
Hamburg bustled on Sunday night as residents pitched in to help firefighters. Sawyer’s Steakhouse on the Hamburg town square isn’t usually open on Sunday, but the restaurant’s owner, Margie Maxwell, opened the kitchen when she realized that a large fire was burning in the county.
“I was already here, but when I heard about the fire, I started cooking,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell and a corps of six employees and volunteers cooked burgers and fries for the firefighters. By 7 p.m., Maxwell estimated that she had cooked and delivered at least 100 burgers and expected to cook and deliver another 100.
Penny Breedlove was one of the volunteers at Sawyer’s.
Her husband, Jerry Breedlove, is the assistant chief of the Hamburg Volunteer Fire Department. He and sons Heath and Wesley Breedlove were fighting the fire.
“There’s always a little anxiety that goes along with this,” said Penny Breedlove. “Fire is fire.” The blazes occurred during a day the National Weather Service had issued a “Red Flag Warning” for fire danger caused by low humidity, temperatures in the 60s and 70s and gusting winds of up to 40 mph in some areas. Burn bans were in effect in every county except Mississippi, Crittenden, Lee and Phillips.
With more than 40 fires reported in 31 counties, the day was the one of the busiest so far this fire season, said Tonja Kelly, a spokesman for the commission.
“We knew we were probably going to be really, really busy today, and we’ve been really, really busy,” Kelly said.
In the Ouachita National Forest, a fire burned about 100 acres and threatened some houses north of Mena, said Scott Roberts, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.
In northeastern Pulaski County a grass fire threatened houses near Republican Road but didn’t require any evacuations, said Sgt. Carl Minden, a spokesman for the Pulaski County sheriff’s office.
The fires follow what the weather service has described as possibly the second-driest year on record for much of the state, and the dry weather has continued into 2006.
A cold front was expected to move into the state Sunday night, said John MacCleod, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service’s North Little Rock office. MacCleod said he expected the fire danger to decrease as the temperature drops and the humidity increases.
The state also has a chance of rain today and Tuesday, although MacCleod said he didn’t expect it to be significant. The fire danger could increase later in the week, he said.