1 dead, 1 injured in house fire west of Tulsa
BY JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writer
Monday, December 10, 2012
12/10/12 at 3:28 PM
One person was killed in a house fire and the victim’s father was burned reportedly trying to rescue his son, fire officials and a witness said.
Firefighters were called about 10:25 a.m. Monday to a two-story home in the 6200 block of South 46th West Avenue for a house fire. When crews arrived, “the house was about 80 percent involved,” said Sapulpa Fire Assistant Chief David Taylor.
It had been reported that a person was still possibly inside, but the fire was too large for firefighters to safely make entry, Taylor said.
“The fire was way too advanced, we couldn’t make a rescue,” Taylor said. “We went to defensive attack.”
It took the firefighters about two hours to extinguish the fire, though they continued to put out hot spots.
Tony Oldham said he lives in the area and was headed home form work when he and the others he was with saw the smoke. They got to the house and sad flames from the burning structure shooting 80 feet into the air, he said.
Oldham said he and a friend saw the father trying to go back into the burning building and they went to help, too.
“Me and a friend tried to run in but when we got to the stairs, there was too much flame,” Oldham said. “There was nothing we could do.”
Oldham said they were able to get the man out of the house and prevent him from going back into try to get his son. Oldham said the man’s hair was on fire and he had severe burns on his body.
“He did have quite a few burns on his face and his arms and I’m sure he inhaled a lot of smoke,” Taylor said. “He tried to make a rescue.”
The father was later transported to Hillcrest Medical Center, Taylor said. His condition was unknown Monday.
Firefighters were not immediately able to locate the second victim because of the smoke and damage to the house. The fire cause the second story to collapse into the home.
“Once we got the fire under control and we got to the point where we could go in and search, we did locate a second victim,” Taylor said.
Neither victim’s age and name was released by authorities Monday.
The victim who died may have been at least partially physically handicapped, Taylor said.
Several agencies were at the scene Monday afternoon to investigate the fire, including the Creek County Sheriff’s Office, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the state fire marshal’s office.
Investigators were also trying to determine a cause of the fire, which could take some time considering the damage it caused, officials said.
Associated Images:
GUS OLIVER/For the Tulsa World
Sapulpa Firefighters at house fire at 61st and 46th St in Sapulpa, Monday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Sapulpa firefighters battle flames at a fatal house fire near 6100 South 46th West Avenue on Monday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Sapulpa Firefighters at house fire at 61st and 46th St in Sapulpa, Monday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
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