Homeowner Crawls From Burning Tulsa House

Tulsa Firefighters worked hours to put out hot spots at a house fire near Lewis and Interstate 44 Thursday, March 28.

Thursday, March 28th 2019, 1:49 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa Firefighters worked hours to put out hot spots at a house fire near Lewis and Interstate 44 Thursday, March 28. They flooded the house with water, used extra foam and spent hours working on the home in the 4900 block of south Columbia Avenue, despite their exhaustion.

“We have rotated fire crews through, we are trying to get them rest. We have EMSA on stand-by for them as well," said Tulsa Fire’s Chief of Emergency Medical Services Michael Baker.

The homeowner’s name is Charles Sweeney. His hands are covered in burns and cuts from crawling out the back door of his house to escape.

He says he had been using the fireplace since early that morning, and it wasn’t long after he left the room that he heard cracking and realized the fire was out of control.

"We did hear ammunition going off and being discharged inside the property as firefighters were inside. Fortunately, no one was hurt," said Baker.

Sweeney tells me his mom and dad built the house back in 1951, and he has wonderful memories growing up there.

Even though firefighters say the house is a total loss, Sweeney says he will not abandon it and is planning on rebuilding.

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