Fires char home, apartment units
A man in a wheelchair who happened to smell smoke may have saved the lives of his brother and his brother’s wife Monday night when a fire quickly swept through their one-story home, destroying the structure and killing the family dog.
Tracey and Casey Shope, who resided at 2403 Beau Monde, had gone to bed about 9 p.m. About an hour later, Casey’s brother, Lance, who is confined to a wheelchair, frantically woke them up. By the time he did, the fire had already reached the couple’s bedroom.
“I looked over and the table beside the bed was on fire,” Casey Shope said as he stood outside watching the fire light up the night sky as it consumed his home of 15 years.
Casey and Tracey Shope’s hair was singed and their faces were soiled by the smoke and licking flames that they had to get through to get out of the house.
Tracey Shope had apparently had time enough to throw on some clothes, but the two brothers were barefoot and had wrapped themselves in blankets against the cool night air.
The three stood outside their home, seemingly stunned by what was transpiring.
“Did you get your billfold?” Tracey Shope asked her husband, their arms around each other.
“When would I have had time to get my billfold?” he responded.
The three said they had no idea what had started the fire.
Firefighters on three trucks from multiple fire stations poured water on the structure, but it was too little, too late as the blaze kept spreading and exploding through the roof. Neighbors walked up in twos and threes to hug the Shopes and offer condolences.
The couple’s dog, described by a neighbor as a 2-year-old retriever, was lost in the fire.
“I had to get Lance out,” Casey Shope said. “I couldn’t get Lance out and the dog.”
Lt. Larry Murray, an assistant fire marshal with the Pine Bluff Fire Department, said the family was fortunate that Lance Shope became aware of the fire.
“He was the one who detected it,” Murray said. “He smelled smoke, and as he was rolling toward his brother’s bedroom, he smelled more. It was a fast-moving
fire. They had to get out of there as fast as possible.
Murray said Tuesday that the cause of the fire was undetermined although it appeared to be “something accidental.
“It was not the central heating and air conditioning, and it wasn’t the hot water heater,” he said. “It was just something else.”
The 2,500-square-foot home, which was insured, according to Murray, had just had the roof replaced, and will more than likely be considered damaged beyond repair.
“It’s a total loss,” he said. “An insurance company is going to consider it a total loss.”
APARTMENT FIRE
On Friday, another accidental fire tore through 10 units at The Arbor on Fir apartments, at 31st Avenue and Fir Street, severely damaging six of them. When fire crews arrived, they were met with heavy smoke and flames coming through the east side of the multiunit complex, according to the fire officials.
Lt. Randy Compton, an assistant fire marshal with the Pine Bluff Fire Department, said the fire was contained to two of the complex’s buildings, adding that the fire walls were effective in keeping the fire from spreading further.
Compton said the fire likely started because too many devices had been plugged into a surge protector. He said the surge protector had also been covered up by other equipment, giving what might have been a small fire a quick path to becoming large.
His advice to the public was to avoid using extension cords because they have a tendency to overheat and to use appropriate surge protectors for the intended purpose.
“But extension cords are what causes many fires,” he said. “People run them across the floor and trample on them and pretty soon, the insulation breaks down and they overheat. This is especially true when someone hooks up a space heater to an extension cord.”
At the apartment, a manager who asked that his name not be used, said he didn’t know how many people had been displaced. He said most of them went to stay with friends and family members, but that he had also put some of them up in a local hotel for a week to help them out.