State to assist in probe of fatal fire

The state fire marshal is expected to begin an investigation today into a fire early Tuesday in rural Crawford County that killed a woman and injured a man.

Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown said he had asked the state fire marshal to assist in the investigation of the fire, which damaged a house on Mote Road off U.S. 71, about 6 miles north of Alma.

Brown did not release the identities of the woman and man Tuesday because the investigation was ongoing.

More than 20 firefighters from two volunteer departments in the county, Districts 1 and 3, responded to the fire that was reported about 6 a.m., said Billy Garrett, District 1 assistant chief,

Garrett said the fire burned about a third of the home and it took crews about 25 minutes to extinguish the blaze.

When firefighters arrived, they heard yelling from inside the house, Brown said. Firefighters crawled a few feet inside the house but couldn’t see anything. A firefighter felt a hand and pulled the man out.

The woman’s body was found later near where the man was pulled out of the house. Her body was being sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Little Rock for autopsy, Brown said.

Garrett said the injured man was unconscious and had burns on 10 percent to 20 percent of his body when pulled from the house. He was taken to a hospital in Fort Smith and transferred to a hospital in Little Rock.