Residents at Little Rock’s Forest Place Apartments say that after seven fires in five months, including one early Friday, they are worried about their safety.
A fire early Friday at the apartment complex at 1421 N. University Ave. was in the same vicinity as other fires and appeared to have been set in a hallway in the South Building, according to Little Rock Fire Department officials. The fire caused smoke damage, and an unknown number of residents were evacuated, including some by ladders off balconies.
On May 16, a fire that did $4 million in damage in the North Building resulted in the displacement of 130 residents, with 34 apartments destroyed and 18 heavily damaged. There have been at least three fires since then, including trash-bin fires, and three smaller ones before the May blaze.
The Little Rock Fire Department is treating at least some of those fires as arson,though the investigation into the causes and which ones could be connected is ongoing, Capt. Edwin Wolfe said Friday afternoon.
“Basically we know someone is setting these fires,” Wolfe said. “We know it’s arson. I can’t really comment on which ones are arson or how they started. We’re working with the fire marshal’s office and the Little Rock Police Department to find out who’s doing it or what caused these fires.
“I can’t say 100 percent that all of them are arson,” Wolfe added. “Sometimes they’re Dumpster fires. We have those all over the city. Sometimes people will throw stuff in there and it accidentally catches on fire.”
Workers in the leasing office at the complex declined Friday to answer questions about the morning’s blaze or the other fires.
Later Friday, Maxus Properties Inc., which is being sued in federal court in Little Rock over some of the blazes, issued a statement detailing efforts to prevent future fires and improve safety and security for residents.
“We are actively engaging in steps to both determine the cause or causes of the fires experienced this year and to do everything we can to both prevent fires from occurring and to put systems and equipment in place to protect our residents when and if fires do occur,” said Michael McRobert, president of Maxus Properties.
The statement by McRobert offered a $35,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the suspicious blazes.
With the smell of smoke still in the air, residents at the complex Friday said that they have received some information on security additions from the apartment’s management, but want to see more results that will keep them and their belongings safe.
“For us to have had so many, it is alarming,” said Ashley Taylor, a Forest Place resident for about two months. “It was a week or two after I moved in when they had the big fire. It was so close to my building. It does worry me.”
She isn’t planning to move at the moment, she said.
“I love living here, but it’s definitely an issue,” Taylor said. “A lot of my neighbors here are older and retired, so it’s quiet here. That’s exactly why I moved here, because it was quiet.”
Judy Nottage said she has been at Forest Place for 18 years, enjoying the use of her twin balconies that face University Avenue, but no more. With her lease expiring Sunday, she was moving out Friday with the help of her daughter, Keli Stroman. Nottage will move into a different apartment complex, Stroman said.
“I get the full benefit of seeing all the emergency vehicles that come during the night,” Nottage said of the repeated overnight fires. “Most definitely, I think people are on edge. And on a property this size, the rumors flew.”
Stroman said the number of fires had her and other family members concerned as well.
“I told her we’re moving you out of this crazy place,” Stroman said. “We weren’t planning on moving her before May. After the big fire, I told her she’s leaving. She was out here walking in the parking lot at 2 in the morning with her cat.
“It’s been very stressful,” Stroman added. “It’s been stressful for everybody.”
Mary Lambright, who said her mother lives in the building where the fire started Friday morning, said in a phone call that the apartment management hasn’t been providing “any information on when they’re installing security cameras, which is ridiculous.” She didn’t want to give her mother’s name, but said her mother hadlived there for 14 years.
“She’s pretty tough,” Lambright added. “She does not want to move.”
Stroman also said the lack of security cameras since the May 16 blaze was a concern of hers.
Wolfe said that apartment management had taken steps for added security, including being “in the process” of installing security cameras. The complex also has hired security guards - two were walking through the complex Friday - and off-duty police officers to patrol the area and has installed card readers on unit doors for residents, he said.
The Maxus Properties statement touted those security steps as well as its decision to temporarily close the trash chutes and remove the trash bins, where several of the fires have started.
The statement also said installation of a new fire alarm and sprinkler system is to begin in August.
Taylor and another resident, Jim Carmical, said they believe the management has tried to keep residents informed on plans to improve security, but they want to see more action.
“I’d like to know if they’ll be able to stop the guy, if it is arson, which is what it looks like,” said Carmical, who has lived at Forest Place for three years. “The office has hired security guards and they’ve been putting out information after each incident. They brought the fire marshal in to speak to residents. They’ve added security codes to get into the buildings.
“But everybody is anxious,” he added. “I’d like to know what’s being done by the Police and Fire departments to stop it, rather than just hearing them talk about it.”
Taylor said she’s had “a couple of things taped to my door … to let us know something is being done. They are doing that.”
Nottage said she knows others who will move out, but has also seen new residents moving in as late as last weekend.
“This is a beautiful property and it’s sad to see what’s happened,” she said. “It’s the repetition that’s worrisome.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/29/2013