SPRINGDALE — Pheng Douangdar was afraid of losing irreplaceable family possessions when a fire engulfed her house Wednesday at 2506 Southfork St.
The air smelled of smoke, alarms could be heard from the house next door and a black plume could be seen in the sky from a distance. Flames shot through holes in the roof, and the upper story was destroyed.
The 911 call came in at 9:09 a.m., and the house was engulfed when firefighters arrived, said Capt. David Kissinger, public information officer with the Springdale Fire Department. The fire began on the enclosed back porch, spreading to the eaves, then the attic, said Capt. Randy Riley. Kissinger couldn't confirm the cause of the fire because it is under investigation.
Phane Douangdar, 62, and Pheng Douangdar, 59, lived in the house, said Ally Owens, their niece. Pheng Douangdar opened the back door and saw the door to a shed was on fire. She and her husband were the only ones home when the fire broke out. They left the house and called 911, Owens said.
Pheng Douangdar sat in the street gutter with her husband and niece, crying as firefighters doused the flames. She said she was most worried family photos and Buddhas — given to her by family members — had been destroyed. Firefighters salvaged everything on the first floor, including most of the family photos and all of the Buddhas, Riley said.
Heat from the fire melted the siding of the house next to the Douangdars’, Kissinger said.
Firefighters sprayed Olga Gonzalez’s house with water to cool it and prevent further damage, Riley said. An upstairs bedroom was damaged.
Gonzalez said her two nephews and her mother were home at the time of the fire. Her mother was napping upstairs and heard a sound at the window. She was frightened, got the children and went outside, Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez’s family will stay in their home, but the Douangdars cannot, Riley said. The Red Cross was contacted to help the Douangdar family.
Riley said he couldn't place a monetary value on the damage.
“There’s a lot of damage here,” Riley said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a total loss.”