Mayflower family mourning woman killed in house fire

MAYFLOWER, Ark. – A house fire in Mayflower left one woman dead and a family mourning her loss as they figure out their next steps.

Mayflower Fire and Rescue responded to a house engulfed in flames on Highway 89 South around 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

Stephen Dycus is the homeowner and said it was a power strip that caused the couch to catch fire and then the rest of the home. He said he was in the shower when he first heard his granddaughter screaming about the fire.

“I ran in there and told my wife to ‘Get out, get out’ and I couldn’t do anything because the smoke was so bad,” Dycus said. “And I had to try to get the window unit knocked out of the window so that I could get out, but I couldn’t hardly get it out.”

He said his son’s girlfriend Cynthia Allen, the mother of the two children in the home, was not able to get out and died in the fire. Dycus said she tried to get out through the laundry room but there were things piled up blocking her exit.

The family has started a GoFundMe for rebuilding efforts and noted that donations for Cynthia’s funeral can be made by directly calling Bradford Memorial Funeral Home.

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