Silver City Firefighter's Funeral Is Wednesday

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday for a rural northeast Oklahoma volunteer firefighter who died while helping battle a blaze that officials believe was deliberately set near Mannford.

Silver City Fire Chief Bill Beall said Monday the fire near State Highway 51 was in the final mop-up stage when firefighter John Adams collapsed about 10:30 p.m. Friday. Beall says the 45-year-old died at the scene.

Beall said Adams' wife, Marcie, also a Silver City firefighter, was not far from her husband when he went down.

He says it hasn't been determined officially whether Adams died as a result of the fire. The 12-member department is in an unincorporated area between Mannford and Oilton in Creek County.

Beall says it's believed this fire was deliberately set. No homes were burned but several outbuildings were destroyed.

2/23/2009  Related story: Officials Investigate Grassfires Near Mannford

Wildfires have scorched more than 9,300 acres in eastern Oklahoma since Friday, including a 1,000-acre blaze in McIntosh County. Other fires have been reported in Cleveland, Garvin and Woodward counties.

Adams' funeral is set for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Mannford.