NOEL -- Officials in Noel are considering several ways to tighten the reins on some rules that could help prevent future fires.
Officials on Tuesday night called a special meeting after the small riverside town experienced two fires on Main Street in a little over a year.
The most recent fire occurred on Jan. 5.
Noel Mayor Terry Lance said he was hoping for a bigger turnout but that the meeting would be a teaching session. Approximately 12 people attended. That number did not include the mayor and three city council members.
As city officials planned for the meeting, city clerk Deby Hopping was approached by a resident who said most people he knew would be working during the time of the meeting. Lance said he would reach out to five or six different cultures within the town and see if he can meet with them.
Lance also will meet with officials of Tyson -- a large employer in town -- and a local resident who could facilitate sessions with different cultures.
Noel Fire Chief Brandon Barrett said Main Street buildings are old with old wiring, with no fire barriers built between them.
In the most recent fire, the original roof was in place, with multiple layers of roofing. Four layers of shingles were found on the existing roof.
The fire started with an electrical issue in the left corner of the building. The copper wiring was brittle, Barrett said.
In a different fire, the state fire marshal did not conclude an origin with the African Store fire, which occurred on Dec. 28, 2020. The fire destroyed the African Store and mosque which were housed in buildings constructed in 1899. Abdinasir Hussein Mohamed, 29, later died from injuries suffered in the fire. Noel firefighter Blake Barrett was injured while serving his community.
A fire that occurred a few years before that in the old bank building was due to an electrical box overload, Barrett said.
The fire department conducts inspections, but Barrett questioned what repercussions those people incur if they are in violation.
Alderwoman Faye Davis asked what would be needed to enforce repercussions. Lance said that issue needs to be reviewed quickly.
Additionally, city officials changed a city ordinance a year ago, with the hopes it would lay the groundwork for eliminating future problems. The ordinance now says that a business owner can live in his building if he owns the property, but other people are not allowed to live there.
Part of the problem, some residents said, are those who live in a building but don't own and operate a business. When people establish living quarters and numerous people live inside a building, it can result in some major challenges, such as overloading the electrical system.
Some residents at the meeting suggested other residents were doing just that -- squeezing in buildings where they shouldn't be allowed to live. One resident said a building from the front looked like a business but that if a person went around to the back of the building, several women were cooking inside. It looked like many people lived there, she said.
A resident suggested that business owners should be required to read and sign the ordinance to prove that they understand what the ordinance says.
Having fire extinguishers and smoke detectors obviously are helpful. Barrett also suggested closing a door to slow a fire.
Barrett told the small crowd gathered that he grew up in Noel and doesn't remember any major fires during those years. During his almost two decades as fire chief, he recalls about three major fires in recent years. These days, however, materials in sofas and mattresses are more cheaply made and more toxic. And with a short-staffed volunteer fire department, response time to town fires can vary, he said.