Firefighters Search For, Fight Beaver Lake Fire

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

No one saw the fire Monday that consumed a small, woodland home near Beaver Lake until it was too late, firefighters said Tuesday.

“It was already burned to the ground by the time the fire department got the call,” said Marc Trollinger, Benton County fire marshal.

The Avoca Fire Department arrived at what remained of a house at 17269 Dogwood Valley Road about 5:30 p.m. Monday — about the same time as homeowner Terry Vonspreecken was getting home, said Chief Frankie Elliott.

“It was a total loss,” Elliott said of the house.

The home burned despite efforts by firefighters who, without receiving an emergency call, started combing the area for what they thought was a structure fire.

Capt. Justin Hopper of the Beaver Lake Fire Department got a text from another firefighter asking if someone was burning. Hopper looked out his door and saw turbid, black smoke rising into the air.

At A Glance

Residential Fires

U.S. fire departments responded to about 236,200 fires in one- and two-family residences each year from 2009 through 2011. The fires resulted in about 1,980 deaths, 8,525 injuries and $5.5 billion dollars in property loss annually. The majority of residential fires are in one- and two-family residences, including mobile homes, detached homes and duplexes.

Source: U.S. Fire Administration

Hopper lives across the lake from Vonspreecken’s home.

“It was too black of smoke for me to believe it was just brush fire,” Hopper said.

Hopper called a firefighter friend on the Avoca department and asked him about the fire. The Avoca firefighter drove up the road and found the blaze, which was in the Avoca fire district.

Around the same time, another firefighter from Beaver Lake Fire Department was driving home, saw the smoke and called 911.

Pea Ridge and Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire.

The fire quickly burned the 641-square-foot home, valued at $40,400, according to county records. The fire also burned an outbuilding but didn't spread to nearby brush thanks to the remaining ice, Trollinger said.

Trollinger estimated damage to be about $20,000 for the home and contents.

Three people lived in the home, but no one was home at the time, Elliott said. The family is staying with relatives, Elliott and Trollinger said.

The cause of the fire and where the fire started is undetermined, Trollinger said. The fire is under investigation but doesn't appear to be suspicious.