SPRINGDALE — Matthew Cross said his instincts kicked in when he saw smoke and flames coming from his neighbor's carport. He said he broke through the front door and rescued the two men and three dogs inside.
The house at 1311 Davis Ave. caught fire Tuesday afternoon. The Fire Department received the 911 call at 12:11 p.m., said Capt. David Kissinger, public information officer for the department. The fire was out by about 12:35 p.m. No one was injured, he said.
Flames came from beneath an already-blackened car and pickup as firefighters sprayed water underneath. Christmas lights still hung from the eaves of the brick house.
Cross, 25, said his instincts honed by military training took over. He was deployed as an Army medic in Afghanistan three times before he came home a year and a half ago.
The fire on Davis Avenue started in front of the carport, where the residents usually smoke cigarettes, Cross said. Tuesday's strong wind worsened the situation.
"In seconds, the whole house started to go up," he said.
Wind always makes it more difficult to put out a fire, because it causes the flames to spread quickly, Kissinger said. The wind Tuesday was 25 mph with gusts to 36, according to the National Weather Service.
Bob Barnes and Fred Baker were in the house when the fire started, Barnes said. They were watching a movie when they heard Cross and his father shouting and banging on the doors.
"They didn't even know there was a fire yet," Cross said.
Tanya Hammonds owns the house and lives there with her four children, her sister Kim Sheckler, her mother Dolores Pope and Barnes, Pope's boyfriend, Barnes said. Baker, who was in the house when it caught fire, is a friend of the family.
While the three dogs didn't die in the fire, one of the dogs, named Smokie, had to breathe from an oxygen mask for a while. A fish and a guinea pig died, Barnes said.
Kissinger said neighbors told him they heard a couple of explosions during the fire. He said he didn't know what the explosions were.
Duane Miller, Springdale fire marshal, said there won't be an official cause for the fire, because officials haven't found any evidence. He said his best guess is the fire started because of a combination of smoldering cigarettes and the wind.
Miller said 30 percent of the house has fire damage and the rest has smoke damage. Most of the fire damage was to the carport and attic with some fire damage to the kitchen, dining room and living room.
NW News on 03/19/2014