LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Two more historic homes in downtown Little Rock went up in flames on Saturday night.
Now, the Quapaw Quarter Association's push for code changes and security for vacant homes is getting stronger.
Patricia Blick, the executive director of the Quapaw Quarter Association, said when she woke up Sunday morning and heard that two more houses were caught in the flames, she was mortified.
"It was out of control, out of control," she said.
Blick said "unmanageable" is how neighbors described the fire that burned one historic home to the ground.
"I think this one is pretty far gone. I don't know if it's feasible to consider rehabilitation of what's left," she said.
The house fire on 1419 S. Commerce Street is just one example of the ongoing problem Blick said they are fighting against.
"We are very very concerned about all these fires destroying historic properties," she said.
Blick said by midnight the S. Commerce Street house, which is part of the MacArthur Park Historic District, was up in flames while, less than six miles down the road, a house that makes up part of the Central High School Neighborhood Historic District was on fire, too.
"That one the damage was pretty bad in the back, but it wasn't terrible in the front so the oldest part of the house looked somewhat intact, but it will have to be evaluated to see if there is a possibility of restoration," she said.
Blick said working to save these treasured pieces of the capital city's past has been at the forefront of the QQA's agenda recently.
The Horace Mitchell House was destroyed by flames two weeks ago, and a vacant historic him on Park Lane was reduced to ashes in December.
"We are losing more and more of these resources, obviously, on a weekly basis, so they become even more precious as we have fewer and fewer of them," she said.
This common theme is why Blick said she met last week with the Fire Chief and Assistant Fire Marshal to talk about ways they can work together to make sure these buildings are better secured, monitored and not as accessible.
It's all hands on deck while city and community leaders work to preserve Little Rock's history.
"We're going to continue to work on this until we can figure out a way to stop it," Blick said.
She said they are also working closely with code enforcement to figure out a strategy for these vacant homes.
The Little Rock Fire Department said it can't comment on the cause or damage of either of these homes until the Fire Marshal has a chance to investigate further.