ROGERS, Ark — Emergency crews responded to a house fire early Monday, Jan. 3, morning in Rogers.
According to the Rogers Fire Department, one person was killed after a fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. at a home in the 500 block of N. 10th Street.
The person's identity has not been released at this time.
According to the Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins, investigators believe a candle or some other alternative heat source might have caused the fire. Officials say 32 firefighters responded to the call and were able to contain the fire to the room where it started, and where the fire victim was found dead. Two dogs were rescued from the home and are currently receiving care at the Rogers Animal Shelter.
The department says there was no electricity supplied to the home before the fire. The exact cause is still under investigation at this time.
“In this circumstance, candles are never a good method, Jenkins said. "Using cooking appliances is never a good method, using burn barrels in your garage and all the different varieties we’ve seen throughout the years, none of those are safe. They aren’t safe from a fire standpoint. They're not safe from a carbon monoxide standpoint.”
Jenkins says this deadly fire underscores the importance of having working smoke detectors. He says most any fire department will come to your home and install smoke detectors or change batteries for free.
The Rogers Fire Department will be going door to door in the area over the next few weeks to make sure everyone has a working smoke detector.
“We want to make sure that you don’t just have one smoke detector for every home, we want smoke detectors on every level of every home, we want them in bedrooms," Jenkins said. "We want to give people every opportunity to make sure, that if they experience a fire inside their homes, that they can get out.”
Stay with 5NEWS for updates on this developing story.