Investigators: Two Children Critical After Tulsa Man Sets House On Fire

Two children are in critical condition after investigators said an arsonist set their home on fire.

The suspect, Steven Clement, is behind bars. He's accused of setting the fire after a fight with the kids' mother.

The fire destroyed the home on 31st Street right next to the Broken Arrow Expressway. Neighbors said they heard noises coming from the house early Tuesday morning, but that lately hearing a commotion coming from the home wasn't unusual.

"When I got up to feed my son at like four, I heard stuff, but thought it was just the yelling again,” said neighbor Carley Jennemann.

Jennemann said that yelling is something that has been going on for some time now at the home.

"It was fine, it was real quiet. They looked real happy and then the man came just a couple of weeks ago,” she said.

Investigators said that man is 35-year-old Clement who was arrested outside the home, accused of setting the fire.

9/16/2014 Related Story: Tulsa Man Arrested For Starting House Fire Which Critically Injured Two Children

According to reports, Clement was sending threatening text messages telling his girlfriend, the mother of the four kids that also lived at the home, that he was going to burn the house down, then telling her that the house was on fire and asking if she had insurance.

Investigators said she wasn't there at the time of the fire, she said she was driving back from a trip to Wichita, Kansas.

When firefighters got on the scene they said a 19 year old and a nine year old were outside in the yard, an 11 year old was on the front porch and a 5 year old was still inside the burning home.

"We had to go in and continue the search, actually had to pull out of the house and make entry through one of the bedroom windows to find the child,” said Captain Stan May with the Tulsa Fire Department.

It's an incident Jennemann said is hard to believe happened so close to home.

Jennemann "It makes you real sad, I can't describe it, it's just the worst feeling ever,” she said. "But really, the kids is the whole thing, I hope they're ok."

Fire investigators aren't saying yet how, or even where, the fire started.

Clement is charged with first degree arson and child abuse.

The 19 year old and six year old are expected to be released from the hospital. The 5 year old and 11 year old are still in critical condition.