CONWAY -- Officers arrested a resident of a Conway apartment complex where an early morning fire Monday destroyed one building and injured two people, a police spokesman said.
David Hartsell, 50, was arrested on charges of arson and first-degree battery after the fire at Germantown Apartments was reported at 4:22 a.m., Conway Police Department spokesman LaTresha Woodruff said.
Hartsell was being held in the Faulkner County jail without bail Monday afternoon, according to an online jail roster.
Woodruff said the two injured residents jumped from the building's second floor to escape the blaze.
Fire Chief Mike Winter said one of the injuries was minor. He said the other person suffered burns and was taken to a Little Rock hospital. Neither he nor Woodruff knew that person's condition nor specific location.
One dog died in the fire, but firefighters managed to rescue several other pets, Woodruff said.
Six of the building's 12 apartments at 955 South German Lane suffered heavy damage, and smoke damaged six other units, she said.
Authorities found "some suspicious items in Hartsell's apartment" while they were investigating the cause of the fire, Woodruff said.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, residents were fleeing the building, which was engulfed in flames. Firefighters and police worked to make sure all of the residents were out of the building.
The Red Cross was trying to find homes for the 17 displaced tenants.
Two University of Central Arkansas students were among the residents.
"We reached out to them to help, but they had been relocated to another off-campus apartment," UCA spokesman Christina Madsen said in an email. "They said they were lucky because their stuff wasn't ruined."
Firefighters worked about 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze.
Woodruff said firefighters evacuated an apartment building adjacent to the one on fire because of the wind's direction. That building did not burn, though.
Woodruff said authorities were not releasing additional details at this time.
State Desk on 02/28/2017
