Fires destroy one home, damage another

Photo by Randy Moll Firefighters from Highfill, Gentry, Centerton and Cave Springs responded to a fire at this home along Fourth Street in Highfill on Friday morning. The fire is believed to have been caused by lightning.
Photo by Randy Moll Firefighters from Highfill, Gentry, Centerton and Cave Springs responded to a fire at this home along Fourth Street in Highfill on Friday morning. The fire is believed to have been caused by lightning.

GENTRY -- A wood stove is thought to be the source of a fire which destroyed the home of Chris Chamberlain on Taylor Orchard Road in Gentry late Thursday night.

Fire departments were called to the home shortly before midnight on Thursday, according to Vester Cripps, Gentry's fire chief. The home was completely destroyed by the late-night blaze, but the home's two residents escaped without injury.

Fire crews remained on the scene for several hours, according to Cripps.

Chamberlain had no insurance.

A second structure fire call went out on Friday morning in Highfill, on Fourth Street just south of the city park, for a fire which is believed to have been caused by lightning.

"The neighbors heard the lightning strike and a few minutes later saw smoke coming from the house," said Gene Holland, Highfill's fire chief. An electrical transformer fuse was also blown out on a nearby utility pole, Holland said.

Firefighters from Highfill, Gentry, Centerton and Cave Springs responded to the fire which was located in the kitchen of the home. In addition to damage there, the rest of the home suffered smoke damage.

The home's one occupant was not hurt in the fire.

General News on 01/15/2014