Investigator says burning ashes caused blaze

A grass fire burned several acres and an outbuilding on Hill Farm Road east of Conway on Monday.

Highway 286 East Volunteer Fire Department received the call about 12:49 p.m. Other fire departments provided mutual aid.

A group of area residents stood by watching with some concern for their respective homes, but the fire came closest to the home of Lonnie Heath of 22 Hill Farm Road. According to County Ranger David Smith, who investigated the fire for the Arkansas Forestry Commission, Heath was the owner of the home where the fire edged in from behind and from both sides. A large outbuilding went up in thick, black smoke. Smith said Heath lost two cars parked outside the building, two cars inside the building and three motorcycles.

Firefighters from the 286 Volunteer Fire Department wait for water from the Liberty Fire Department pumper truck during a grass fire that crawled across multiple properties on Farm Hill Road east of Conway. The fire engulfed at least one vehicle and one structure before firefighters were able to gain control. LIBERTY PARKS PHOTO

The home was spared, but flames advancing from a field on the south side set the fence row ablaze. Help arrived as the fire sweeping across the field on the north side of the home made its way toward the opposite fence row. Those fires were quickly extinguished.

Highway 286 East Chief Rodney Sanders said it took until about 4 p.m. to put out the fire that destroyed the outbuilding. He said a camper parked outside the building also burned up. Fire departments providing mutual aid were Liberty Volunteer Fire Department, Saltillo Volunteer Fire Department and Conway Fire Department, he said.

Smith said the fire burned about eight acres of grass fields and one acre of woods.

Early in his investigation he spotted the apparent site where the fire originated and said he was puzzled by the apparent lack of anything that would cause the fire. He later determined the fire started after another resident of Hill Farm Road threw out some ashes from his wood stove or fireplace.

"He thought they were out. They weren't," he said.

Smith added the resident who dumped the ashes received a citation.

"People need to remember that fireplace and wood stove ashes are just like a campfire. We've had fires started by those things when they were 10 or 11 days old. People think they're totally dead, and there will be coals in there that are still burning. They need to be sure they stir them and pour water in them and make sure they're out. At the very least, dump them on a clear spot (where there is only dirt) don't empty them onto combustible fuel," he said.

(Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)