Winthrop fire truck investigation continues

The investigation continues into why a Winthrop, Ark., fire truck rolled into a pond while spraying water on a house fire early Thursday morning, said Winthrop Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Miller.

A Winthrop, Ark., fire truck, summoned to a house fire Thursday morning west of Cross Roads, Ark., rolled into a pond and became submerged in the water and mud.

The fire was reported by an alarm company at 12:55 a.m. Thursday in a residence located about five miles west of Cross Roads near Arkansas Highway 234. The owner works out of town and no one was at home when the fire started.

The report said the owner of the house is Angela Oglesby Austin.

The firefighters were prepared to spray water on the fire when the 1985 model pumper truck started rolling into the pond and sank.

Miller said the fire department will investigate the cause of the malfunctioning truck and the sheriff's department will investigate the cause of the fire.

“We're not sure what happened or why the fire truck started rolling into the pond,” said Miller.

“We had pulled the hoses and were fixing to start spraying water when the truck rolled forward and went into the pond,” Miller said.

The first person to arrive at the fire was Little River County Deputy John Blagg, said Sheriff Bobby Walraven.

Blagg got inside the house and was using a fire extinguisher to suppress the fire but had to exit the house because of the smoke, according to the report.

“We (are) fortunate no one got hurt,” Miller said.