Two Firefighters Sent to Hospital During AR Fire

From kait8.com:

More than thirty firefighters from eight departments rushed to Walnut Ridge to help fight an overnight fire on NW 3rd Street.

Walnut Ridge Fire Chief Frank Owens said the fire started low, moved up toward the attic, and spread into the house. Since the house was being renovated and had walls in the attic, Owens said the fire was especially hard to contain.

The fire department had to call in help from Alicia, Black Rock, Clover Bend, Hoxie, Imboden, Portia, and Sedgewick to assist because of the heat stress his firefighters had to endure. Two firefighters were sent to the hospital and one has been released. The other firefighter's condition is still unknown.

Read more and see video HERE For more on the dangers of operating at house fires, read Jerry Knapp's Suburban Firefighting column HERE.

AR Building Collapse Kills 1, Injures 6

From the Associated Press via fox.16.com:

Authorities say a building in a central Arkansas city has collapsed, killing a young girl and injuring at least six other people.

Investigators have not determined what caused the building in downtown Morrilton to collapse Monday.

Conway County Sheriff Mike Smith says rescue teams are searching the wreckage for possible survivors but that he thinks most people escaped. The building housed a beauty parlor.

Read it all HERE.

Huge Midwest Storm Leaves Trail of Death and Destruction

From CNN:

A powerful storm system pushed its way into the Southeast early Friday after tearing across the Plains, killing at least five people in Oklahoma and Arkansas, authorities said.

Severe weather including tornadoes will be a possibility across northern Mississippi and Alabama and into central Tennessee on Friday afternoon.

The storm system will then press forward into Georgia and the Carolinas overnight Friday and into Saturday morning. The forecast from the National Weather Service says the primary threat there will be damaging thunderstorm winds, but there also will be the possibility of isolated tornadoes.

Read more HERE.