Muskogee Man Dies In House Fire

The Oklahoma State Fire Marshal's Office says a man died in a house fire in Muskogee Thursday morning.

The office identifies the victim as Xenaphone Clark, who was in his late 80s.

The fire was reported at 5 a.m. on Thursday, December 22, 2016 in the 700 block of North 7th Street. The Fire Marshal's Office said Clark was the only resident in the 3-story structure.

According to Muskogee Assistant Fire Marshal John Tipton, when Clark went to bed Wednesday night he put a space heater about six inches form the bed. He said, at some point during the night, a blanket was kicked off the bed and onto the space heater.

He believes the blanket caught fire, which caused other things in the room to catch fire.

The Muskogee Fire Department was called and when firefighters arrived, they put out a small fire in the bedroom, pulled Clark from the bedroom and started CPR.

Tipton said Clark was eventually moved outside where Muskogee EMS continued life saving measures. Clark was taken to the hospital where he died.

Fire officials said the home had smoke detectors but they were not working.

Clark's family said he was in the process of moving out of the home.