Late Morning Fire Damages Historic Home At 10:27 AM on Monday morning 911 received a secondhand report of a possible basement fire at 17 1/2 Elk Street in Eureka Springs. The caller stated that he had been advised of a possible fire in the basement wood room of the residence by his wife. Eureka Springs Fire Department was dispatched with Engine 1151 arriving on scene at 10:34 AM. First arriving firefighters observed heavy smoke coming from the basement and first floor of a 2700 square foot two-story wood frame structure. Upon entry the firefighters found heavy fire on the basement level extending up through the first and second floor. Multiple fire hoses were stretched to the three levels and a multi prong attack was made. The fire was contained to the wood room in the basement area and to the front bedroom and hallway on the first floor. The fire spread by chase ways and void spaces into the home’s kitchen and around the chimney into the upper level. During the initial fire attack a firefighter partially fell through a burned out hole of the floor in the first floor hallway. The firefighter sustained minor burn injuries during the incident. Further investigation found that a futon mattress lying in the hallway had hid a large 4 foot by 3 foot section of floor which had completely burned away. Firefighters were finally able to bring the difficult blaze under control at 11:30 AM. The home sustained significant internal damage on the west end of each of the three levels. The final firefighters were able to clear the scene around 3:00 PM. Eureka Springs Fire Department responded with two engines, a ladder truck, two ambulances, and one command vehicle. Nineteen firefighters from Eureka Springs battled the blaze with assistance of three firefighters from Holiday Island and one from Grassy Knob Fire Department. Fire Marshal Jimmy Kelley reports that the fire appears to have started in the vicinity of a woodstove set up in the basement of the old 1900’s home. The exact cause of the blaze in relation to the woodstove is still under investigation. The homeowners were able to remove several precious items after the fire was extinguished. #### Picture credits: Eureka Springs Independent, Lovely County Citizen, and Eureka Springs Fire & EMS personnel.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 03:42:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015