Woman who died in house fire identified

LITTLE FLOCK — Police have released the name of a woman who died in a Friday house fire at 1679 Esther Lane.

The body of Linda Lewis, 61, was found Sunday in the burned rubble of the home, according to Little Flock Police Chief Shawn Hollis.

Little Flock Fire Chief Moose Dunavan said personnel from the Fire Department, the Little Flock Police Department and the Benton County Coroner’s Office were on the scene Sunday and discovered Hollis’ body near the front of the home.

“Once the fire was completely out Saturday afternoon, the coroner turned us loose,” Dunavan said about his personnel searching through the debris.

Police were alerted to the fire shortly after 1:30 a.m. Friday. Police officer Cody Lynge responded and said he saw the flames rising above the trees as he crossed the low-water bridge on North Dixieland Road. The garage was completely engulfed in flames when he arrived, he said.

“There was thick black smoke,” Lynge said, adding he got a man away from the house.

The man, later identified as Robert Lewis, told firefighters his wife was still in the home. He was then transported to an area hospital; his condition has not been released.

When police arrived, Dunavan said, “There was a fully involved basement, smoke throughout the house and fire in what appeared to be the living room area.”

The house is a total loss, said Dunavan, who has been fighting fires for 25 years and has been chief since 2005. “We’ve never had a situation like this,” he said.

“Very simply put, it’s one of the worst calls I’ve ever

been on,” Dunavan said. “We’ve had calls where we’ve had fatalities … but there were few to the extent where we couldn’t find the person and the house became unsafe where we couldn’t continue aggressive interior operations. That made it more difficult.”

He said the home had a basement and the ground-level floor was collapsing Friday, making it unsafe to send in firefighters at that time.

The closest hydrant is too far away to lay hose, so all water used to fight the fire was brought in by tanker trucks, he said.

The Little Flock, Pea Ridge and Rogers fire departments worked on the scene Friday.

The Beaver Lake Fire Department provided a tanker with water.

Dunavan said the cause of the fire is still undetermined but no foul play is suspected.