PHOTO: A firefighter atop Arkadelphia’s ladder truck aims downward at an apartment fire early Tuesday morning, March 17, 2026. | Joel Phelps/arkadelphian.com
ARKADELPHIA, Arkansas — A major structure fire broke out early Tuesday morning at Valley View Apartments, 2504 Country Club Road.
Police say all residents were able to make it out of the 12-unit complex.
“I started hearing the ceiling pop and crackle.”
Firefighters were dispatched to the apartment complex just before 6:30 a.m., before sunrise, when a 911 caller advised of a large fire as he or she was trying to get people out of the building. Initial reports, according to the 911 call, indicate that the blaze started on the second floor of the two-story complex.
By 7:20 a.m. other fire agencies were being advised that several units were fully engulfed.
Miraculously, no critical injuries were reported.
Of the 11 apartments that were occupied, 27 residents were registered as tenants, according to law enforcement.
The initial 911 calls, of which there were multiple, were made at 6:25 a.m. The Arkadelphia Fire Department was on scene by 6:29 a.m. and began evacuating residents. By that time the fire was fully involved on the west end of the apartment building and spreading east.
“All you could hear was the popping noises and everybody yelling ‘Help me!’ and ‘Get my kids out!'”
— Micalah Arnold, 911 caller who helped evacuate residents
Arkadelphia First Baptist Church was opening its doors as a shelter to those affected by the fire. The American Red Cross was en route to the church to provide relief services. Local nonprofit organizations are accepting donations of essential items (see below).
Fire chief: Cause, origin unknown
Arkadelphia Fire Chief Andy Neel said the cause and origin of the blaze remain under investigation.
Multiple agencies responded to the fire, and by noon a few remained at the scene as a city crew used an excavator to knock down the remaining walls of the structure. Neel said a small crew of firemen will remain on scene throughout the afternoon.
Neel, whose career as a firefighter spans nearly three decades, said Tuesday’s fire ranked in the top five largest of his years fighting fires. Other major fires that came to mind included the Group Living fire and Martha Dixon’s clothing store in downtown.
911 caller helped people from burning building
Micalah Arnold had just finished her shift at a Caddo Valley convenience store. Arnold, 19, was driving through the neighborhood when she saw the blaze. She immediately dialed 911, then commenced to helping people get away.
Arnold described the scene as hellish. “Half of the building was on fire, a car was on fire,” she said. “It was spreading, and all you could hear was the popping noises and everybody yelling ‘Help me!’ and ‘Get my kids out!’ All you could see was flames that were getting bigger and bigger.”
Arnold aided someone she didn’t know in helping other people she didn’t know. “We were getting them off the balconies, and getting people away from the fire,” she said. Among the four or five apartments she helped to evacuate, those Arnold assisted included a family of five, an elderly woman and a man and his dog.
Asked why she staid around to help after calling 911, Arnold said it was a simple decision. “If that was my family [in the burning apartments] I would want someone to help,” she said. “I just couldn’t keep driving, seeing all these people losing their homes and trying to get out. I know they lost all their stuff today, everything they worked for.”
Mother threw kids from balcony for rescue
Sandra Green, a mother of six children, acted quickly when she became aware of the blaze. “I ran in and snatched my kids out of bed,” she said.
The family exited their upstairs apartment to find no way to the ground level, as by then the stairwell had completely burned. What happened next was a miracle.
A neighbor “appeared out of nowhere,” Green said. “He told me to throw the kids, so I just started throwing them down the balcony.”
One by one, Green tossed her children — ranging in ages from 1 to 16 years old — to safety below. Green was able to escape then, when an Arkadelphia fireman showed up with a ladder to begin the rescue.
‘Parental instinct’ took over for neighbor who caught children
We caught up with Green’s neighbor, Corey Langston, at First Baptist Church, where about a dozen other displaced residents like him were taking shelter.
Langston and his girlfriend lived in the westernmost apartment on the first floor. It was she who woke him upon smelling what they described as an electrical fire. Langston said he went through the apartment and opened a back door to find a porch engulfed in flames.
“I started hearing the ceiling pop and crackle,” Langston said. They put their shoes on and escaped through the front door. Seconds later, the living room ceiling collapsed.
It was then that Langston heard kids crying down the way. A father of two, Langston doesn’t consider himself a hero. Instead, he said, parental instinct took over. “I just went down there, and [Sandra Green] started handing her kids down to me” from the upstairs balcony 8-10 feet above.
The fire appeared to have started on the west side of the complex in the apartment above Langston; his upstairs neighbors weren’t home at the time.
“It was spreading real quick,” Langston said. Once he and his girlfriend made their narrow escape, the apartment above theirs was already fully engulfed, he said. “From there it went like a domino effect, going from unit to unit to unit, and the whole place was engulfed in a matter of minutes.”
The fire claimed Langston and his girlfriend’s vehicles, as well as all their belongings.
Donations accepted at Lighthouse Ministries, Beehive thrift stores
Local nonprofit organizations are stepping up to help those affected by Tuesday’s fire.
Lighthouse Ministries, located at 905 Highway 67 South, and The Beehive, 700 Main St., are both accepting donations of essential items.
Essential items include, but are not limited to:
- Cookware such as crockpots and hotplates
- Bedding
- Silverware
- Dishes
- Towels
- Clothing