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Six homes were evacuated Thursday afternoon as firefighters battled a forest fire that broke out near a populated area.
Around 2 p.m. Thursday, volunteer fire departments from Alpine, Amity, Hollywood and DeGray, as well as officials with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, were dispatched to Alpine Road near Hill Trail, where a blaze burned several acres of woodlands. For three hours, numerous firefighters battled the blaze, which burned a little more than 30 acres.
According to Mikki Hastings, director of the Clark County Office of Emergency Management, nine adults living in those six homes were evacuated and sent to the Alpine Community Center as firefighters worked for about three hours to contain the flames. Children living in the area were also bussed to the community center once they were dismissed from Centerpoint Schools, Hastings said.
Hastings did not have an estimate on the property damage, but said only woodlands were burned. “There were no houses or outbuildings burned” in the fire, she said.
Asked what caused the fire, Hastings said the Forestry Commission had been bush-hogging in the area, and one of the workers said his tractor may have thrown sparks into the vegetation.
The spark, combined with dry weather conditions, may have been the cause, Hastings said. “Extremely low humidity with winds in the afternoon makes for extremely hazardous fire conditions,” she said.
Clark County Judge Ron Daniell said Thursday that the burn ban remains in effect for the county; those wishing to burn may contact their local fire chief for permission to burn, but if a fire department is called to extinguish an out-of-control blaze, there could be a $205 fine.
See related photo, page 1
Six homes were evacuated Thursday afternoon as firefighters battled a forest fire that broke out near a populated area.
Around 2 p.m. Thursday, volunteer fire departments from Alpine, Amity, Hollywood and DeGray, as well as officials with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, were dispatched to Alpine Road near Hill Trail, where a blaze burned several acres of woodlands. For three hours, numerous firefighters battled the blaze, which burned a little more than 30 acres.
According to Mikki Hastings, director of the Clark County Office of Emergency Management, nine adults living in those six homes were evacuated and sent to the Alpine Community Center as firefighters worked for about three hours to contain the flames. Children living in the area were also bussed to the community center once they were dismissed from Centerpoint Schools, Hastings said.
Hastings did not have an estimate on the property damage, but said only woodlands were burned. “There were no houses or outbuildings burned” in the fire, she said.
Asked what caused the fire, Hastings said the Forestry Commission had been bush-hogging in the area, and one of the workers said his tractor may have thrown sparks into the vegetation.
The spark, combined with dry weather conditions, may have been the cause, Hastings said. “Extremely low humidity with winds in the afternoon makes for extremely hazardous fire conditions,” she said.
Clark County Judge Ron Daniell said Thursday that the burn ban remains in effect for the county; those wishing to burn may contact their local fire chief for permission to burn, but if a fire department is called to extinguish an out-of-control blaze, there could be a $205 fine.
See related photo, page 1
