The cause of a fully involved fire in the 300 block of Crescent Street Tuesday afternoon is under investigation by the Hot Springs Fire Department, and Hot Springs police Sgt. Chris Lackey said a person of interest has been detained.
According to residents in the area, the house, located at 336 Crescent, was unoccupied, but a man and woman were reportedly living in a camper parked next to it.
One neighbor stated there was an unknown male, who had not been previously seen in the neighborhood, sitting on the porch prior to the fire.
"I got home from work a little after 1:30 p.m. (Tuesday) and saw a guy sitting on the front porch. I waved at him, went inside my house and started cleaning up. Maybe five minutes after I came back inside from taking the trash out, I saw the house was engulfed in flames," Ronald Lennox said.
Lennox said when he saw the flames, the unknown male was gone, but was later detained by Hot Springs police officers at a nearby intersection.
The two occupants of the camper were reportedly not at the scene at the time of the fire, and neighbors next door at 340 Crescent St. had to be evacuated.
The Hot Springs Fire Department was notified at 1:59 p.m. of the fire and had the flames fully extinguished by 3:30 p.m. According to Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Davis, one firefighter was transported and treated at National Park Medical Center and another firefighter was treated at the scene, both for heat exhaustion. Davis said the fire is under investigation.
Local on 09/28/2016