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Benton house burns to ground |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
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David and Mary Tiner of Benton had hoped to move into their new house at 1215 Tiner Cove in Benton sometime in April, but a fire around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday put those plans on hold because the home was destroyed in the blaze.  Benton Fire Marshall Bruce Armstrong on Thursday investigates the remains of a house that burned Wednesday night at 1215 Tiner Cove. Armstrong, who is searching for the cause of the blaze, said nobody was injured and that the owners were about two weeks away from moving into the new house. (Courier photo by Matt Burks)
“They had expected to move into the home in a week or two,” Benton Fire Marshall Bruce Armstrong said. “Thankfully, nobody was inside the home at the time, so nobody was hurt. However, one of the family members told me this was supposed to be their dream home, and they are pretty upset that it was destroyed.”
The Courier was unable to reach the Tiners.
Armstrong said the Benton Fire Department received the call at 11:24 p.m. and reached the scene in under three minutes. Firefighers fought the blaze for nearly three hours.
“Engine 3 arrived on the scene, with truck 1 and 2, all fully involved, but the wind that night made the firefighting much more difficult,” Armstrong said. “Because of the strong winds, some of the trees around the home caught fire as well as a telephone pole, and some embers were flying in the air threatening to catch other things nearby on fire. I think the firefighters did a good job of keeping the fire confined to the home.”
The firefighters stopped the blaze and left the scene about 2:45 a.m. Thursday, but Armstrong stayed until late afternoon to begin the investigation into what caused the fire inside the home.
“There are a couple of things right now that we are looking at,” he said, “but we don’t have a determined cause at this time. The investigation will continue.”
The electricity already had been hooked up at the house, he said, but nothing had been left on as far as he has determined.
Armstrong, who has stayed in contact with the Tiners, said they are unsure at this time what their next step will be concerning where they will live in the future. He said they are staying with a family member nearby.
“They said they would have to step back and reevaluate,” Armstrong said. “They put a lot of time, energy and investing into this home that was near completion. They did say though that they were thankful that nobody got hurt.”
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Razorbacks
