Several fires in June viewed as suspicious in Blytheville

Several suspicious fires in Blytheville during the past few weeks have firefighters investigating the possibility the blazes are connected.

"We're looking to see if the fires are related or if there may be some copycat fires going on," Blytheville Fire Chief Mike Carney said.

Blytheville firefighters have battled at least eight fires that Carney deemed "suspicious in nature." Several were in vacant houses where the utilities were not on, and fire investigators could see obvious "pour patterns" indicating accelerant was poured to set the fires.

"Fires in vacant houses aren't something that just happens," the chief said.

The fires began early this month.

On June 7, firefighters responded to a blaze on Southwest Parkway Drive that Carney said appeared to have been set intentionally.

Two days later, the department was called to First and Vine streets to fight a fire police suspect was set in retaliation for the June 8 shooting death of Yuri McKeever, said Capt. Scott Adams, commander of the Blytheville Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division.

"We are investigating it as such," Adams said. "The house that burned was two houses from where the homicide took place."

One of the suspects arrested in the fatal shooting lived in the house that burned, Adams said.

On June 11, firefighters were called to a house fire on East Rose Street, and the next day they responded to a fire on South Franklin Street.

Carney said while firefighters were battling the blaze on Franklin Street, they heard gunshots about two blocks away.

"They were 'pop, pop, pop,'" Carney said. "We could hear on our radio that there was a police pursuit going on. I told our captain to wrap up [fighting] the fire because it was too volatile.

"Our guys had to take cover for a bit," the chief said. "It was a rough night."

Firefighters also responded to fires on David Lane and in an abandoned structure on South Franklin Street last week.

"We are seeing some connections between the fires," Carney said.

A fire marshal with the Blytheville department has gathered evidence at several of the scenes and sent it to the state Crime Laboratory to determine the type of accelerants used.

The Arkansas State Police also is assisting in the investigation.

Several of the houses had no insurance, and the fires occurred in different parts of the Mississippi County town of 15,000.

"It's been sporadic," Carney said. "We're not sure if it's one person or some copycat who has seen the publicity about the fires.

"We've not gotten all the pieces of the puzzle together yet."

State Desk on 06/26/2016

Upcoming Events