Jenks Man Laments Loss of Life's Work After Building Burns

In his workshop, he made trophies for sports teams, and now his shiny pride and joy has turned into a pile of ashes.

Wednesday, November 27th 2013, 5:57 pm

By: News On 6


A lifetime of work burned in minutes for one Jenks man.

The workshop behind his house caught fire, and now he's left without a job.

From Osage SkyNews 6 you could see thick smoke billowing from this building in Jenks.

"I was up leaving Lowe's at Tulsa Hills, and I could see the smoke all the way from there, so I knew I lost everything," Calvin Mefford said.

11/27/2013 Related Story: Fire Destroys Metal Barn Housing Trophy Business Near Jenks

Mefford got a call from his wife that his workshop behind his house was engulfed in flames.

As firefighters worked to save the building, he couldn't help but think about everything he lost inside.

"It's just a lifetime of work," Mefford said.

He makes trophies for baseball, football and cheerleading teams.

It's something he's done for years, and now his shiny pride and joy has turned into a pile of ashes.

"I have some that I have to do for a cheerleading contest the 14th of December, but I guess I'll have to get someone else to do it for me," Mefford said.

One road block Jenks firefighters ran into is that the nearest fire hydrant didn't provide enough water pressure, so they had to run more than 800 feet of hose to a fire hydrant on the next street over."

Mefford lives outside city limits.

The hydrant closest to his house is a Tulsa County hydrant.

"All your Jenks hydrants are going to be 5-inch hydrants and they're going to have a lot better water supply. This is a two and a half inch hydrant," Jenks Fire Capt. Keith Gillette said. "This whole call was depending on our water supply, and if we would have had adequate water supply, it would have worked a lot better for us."

Even though Mefford's business is gone and he doesn't know if he'll be able to rebuild, there's one thing for which he is thankful.

"I'm just glad that my wife and everybody is fine," Mefford said.

The homeowner says he did have some propane tanks next to his shed, but he does not believe that started the fire. As for the official cause, firefighters say that is still under investigation.

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