Arson Suspected In Bartlesville House Fire

The Bartlesville Fire Department is on the lookout for someone they say is setting fires to vacant buildings in town.

The fire department says most of the houses that have caught fire have been vacant, but one neighbor says if the fire department hadn't shown up when they did Wednesday morning, he probably would have lost his house too.

"I thought it was my truck that was on fire,” said Franklin Boone. “I came out and shut it off, and it wasn't my truck."

Boone says fires have been popping up all around his neighborhood, but Wednesday morning, it happened right in his back yard.

"Started smelling what smelled like burnt plastic,” Boone recalled. “When I got out of my truck, I see the glow up over the roof of my house."

Boone says he ran inside to wake up his wife.

"Our bedroom window was just straight orange,” said Boone. “It was just full-glow orange."

When they got outside, he says the fire was spreading to their own home.

"By the time the fire department actually got here, the roof of my house had already started to catch on fire,” Boone stated. "They got here just in the nick of time. If they'd been two minutes later, I probably would have lost my house to it."

Bill Hollander with the Bartlesville Fire Department says they're starting to see a pattern.

"Since July, we've had approximately a dozen structure fires, whether it be vacant houses or vacant

Garages,” said Hollander. “We feel we probably have somebody setting these fires."

He says most of the fires are starting the same way.

"It's pretty unique set of materials being used to set a lot of these different fires,” set Hollander.

Hollander asks the neighborhood to be vigilant and contact them if they notice anything suspicious.

Hollander says Wednesday morning's fire is still under investigation, but they do have some leads on who could be responsible.