‘Intense’ fire rips through homes
Four townhomes destroyed; no injuries reported
Multiple fire departments fought a massive blaze at Four Seasons Villa Resort, 301 Kleinshore Drive, Saturday night after a vehicle fire spread to adjoining townhomes, destroying four and damaging multiple vehicles.
The cause of the fire, which was fought into the early morning hours Sunday, is under investigation, including reports that fireworks were being set off in the area prior to the fire.
Autumn Carlisle, 70 West fire chief, said the blaze originated from a vehicle close to the first in a row of four townhomes. Prior to the start of the fire, Carlisle said residents had observed people shooting off fireworks.
“They believed they heard the fireworks go off, they saw the back unit of their complex caught on fire, their vehicle caught on fire, and then they said that it rapidly started spreading to the adjacent structures,” she said.
Carlisle said that the fire was difficult to fight due to the proximity, age and composition of the structures. She also pointed out that none of the townhomes had sprinkler systems installed, which could have tempered the blaze.
“We had a big fire immediately,” she said.
Hot Springs Fire Department and volunteer fire departments from Lake Hamilton, Mountain Pine, Piney, Jessieville and Bonnerdale provided manpower and equipment, and Morning Star provided additional manpower to relieve firefighters. Lake Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department responded with its fire boat to the scene.
“We’ve had some difficulty with firefighters getting overheated,” Carlisle said.
The four townhomes that were destroyed, 13 to 16, run in numerical order from south to north. The row runs parallel to another row of townhomes on the side of a hill that reaches east to the lake.
Residence 16, the northernmost, was the first to be consumed by the fire. The blaze rapidly moved through the row of townhomes until all four structures were mostly reduced to a maze of ash and twisted metal.
Monte Dilick, who lives in No. 16, said that he tried to fight his neighbor’s vehicle fire prior to the blaze overtaking his home.
Dilick said that because of the age of the residences in the community, which he said are around 80 years old and made of wood, the fire spread “within 45 seconds to a minute” after the vehicle was consumed.
“Those timbers just caught on fire,” Dilick said. “It literally just went up in flames.”
Sandra Luman, who lives in No. 13, said that she was watching TV when her grandson told her that there was smoke in the house.
“We came outside, and the whole neighborhood was on fire,” Luman said.
The fire, which was called in at 9:54 p.m. Saturday, initially prompted the response from 70 West.
Carlisle said late Saturday there was initially confusion over whether the fire was a structure fire or a vehicle fire when it was first reported.
“It spread very quickly,” Carlisle said of the fire. “Our first arriving unit reported that he had three different units that were fully involved, and was starting to spread to the fourth.”
In addition to the fire departments, LifeNet responded to Four Seasons to provide medical relief to firefighters who had suffered from minor injuries or heat exhaustion while battling the fire. Garland County Sheriff’s Department and Arkansas State Police responded to the scene for traffic control.
The response scene inside of Kleinshore Resort consisted of response vehicles meticulously moving as close to the scene as they could without hitting each other, first responders rushing back and forth with hoses and oxygen tanks, Four Seasons residents, and firefighters either hosing down what remained of the four residences or lying in the grass, exhausted. The scene stretched all the way to the front gates of the resort into the early morning Sunday, with only a few response vehicles leaving the area by around 1 a.m.
Carlisle said that Entergy Arkansas Inc. shut off the power in every residence in Four Seasons as a result of the fire.
The blaze’s rapid spread prompted a quick initial evacuation from the four houses in which few personal belongings were able to be saved. Dilick said that he was able to get his pets from his home, and was able to save one of his three vehicles.
Luman and her grandson safely made it out of her residence before the fire reached — and engulfed — her home. She said that very little was saved in their evacuation.
“We got out with the clothes on our back,” she said.
“It’s just amazing how fast it took off and how quickly everything caught on fire,” Dilick said. “I’m just shaking my head because it happened so quickly.”
Carlisle cited all four townhomes as a “complete loss,” and said that the fire also caused limited damage to one of the townhomes in the row parallel to the destroyed residences. She was unable to give a damage cost estimate at the time of the response.
Luman, who had just remodeled her house, said that the fire made her “sick.”
“It’s gone. I lost all of my stuff,” she said.
Carlisle said that although most of the residences in Four Seasons are vacation homes, at least two of the four that were destroyed were occupied by fulltime residents, including Dilick and Luman. She said that the American Red Cross will be working to relocate them. The Sentinel-Record also spoke with a third permanent resident Sunday.
Carlisle said that none of the residents in the destroyed townhomes — or any other Kleinshore residents — were harmed in the fire.
Though they were unhappy that the fire had taken all of their belongings, Dilick and Luman were both grateful that all of the residents were safe.
“I’m just glad no one was hurt,” Dilick said. “The neighbors came together and did a head count and made sure everyone was safe.”
“We’re OK,” Luman said. “It can be rebuilt. It can be all right.”
Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Davis said shortly before midnight Saturday that his department provided two engines and 14 firefighters, which included off-duty personnel who were called in to ensure that the firefighting capability inside the city of Hot Springs was not affected.
The residential complex is located in the unincorporated area of the county, outside the city limits.
Davis said the mutual aid was the case of a “neighbor helping a neighbor.”