Cold Weather Brings More Fires To Tulsa

A homeless man lost his life Saturday morning just trying to stay warm in these bitter cold temperatures.

1/13/2018 Related Story: Man Dies When Space Heater Sparks Tulsa Car Fire

Firefighters responded to several fires throughout the day, many of them sparking for the same reason.

Thick, heavy smoke filled the air near Pine and Harvard on North Jamestown Avenue as firefighters rushed to the scene. 

1/13/2018 Two Men Escape Tulsa House Fire

"I saw how a bunch of firefighters came in to help, so I wasn't really that worried," said Neighbor Nayre Albarran. 

"When we opened that front door, it was pushing heavy heat and fire on top of us," said Tulsa Firefighter Brody Bowman. 

Investigators said they aren't sure what sparked the flames, but know it started in the utility closet.

The kitchen is destroyed. 

At the home near Pine and Harvard, firefighters said two men escaped the flames, and they're both OK.

But it was a deadly scene near Admiral and Memorial, at a car repair business.

Firefighters said a homeless man was sleeping in an SUV, using a space heater plugged into an extension cord to keep warm overnight. 

"We didn't realize there was a person inside one of the vehicles until the homeowner came out and said that there possibly was somebody in there," said Tulsa Fire Captain Eddie Mangold. 

Business owner Billy Young knew the man and had been trying to help him out.

"Trying to get a new place for him to live, and so forth," Young said. 

Young said the man was in his 40s. He has not been identified yet by officials.

"We just started working, trying with the family, to get them to help and so forth. Sometimes stuff just doesn't pan out as fast as it should have," Young said. 

This wasn't the only fire involving a space heater that firefighters dealt with Saturday. 

"The first one was a home that didn't have any electricity. It was actually running an extension cord from the neighbor’s home into her house," Mangold said.  

As firefighters stay busy this winter, they warn: space heaters are not meant to be someone's only source of heat.

If you would like to help the victims of the house fire, they have a GoFundMe account.