Teen, Church Help Families After Fire Destroys Tulsa Apartments

A 16-year-old Tulsa boy is being called a hero by some for braving smoke and flames to make sure his neighbors survived a large apartment fire.

The Deerfield Estates caught fire Saturday from an improperly discarded cigarette; eight families lost everything.

Now the teen’s church is helping the victims.

The computer room at the Deerfield Estates is currently being used as a donation center, for families in need.

The thick black smoke could be seen for miles. But for Justin Fincher, the smoke was all around him.

“People needed my help,” he said. “My heart was pounding. “I couldn't see, I was choking on the smoke.”

He spotted the flames from another building and, instinctively, the 16-year-old and his friend, 14-year-old Caleb Hager ran to help.

“It was pretty crazy when we got down here,” Hager said.

The teens went to every apartment - banging on doors, screaming for their neighbors to get out of the burning building.

2/27/2016 Related Story: Three Firefighters Injured In South Tulsa Apartment Complex Fire

Fincher said, “I thought about everything I did afterwards and how hurt I could have been, but in the moment, I didn't think about that. I just knew people needed some help.”

Hayley Hilton, her husband and their 1-year-old and 1-month-old babies lived in the apartment above where the fire started.

“I pulled back the curtains and there's flames coming up, and smoke,” William Wayne Goodall said.

They made it out with seconds to spare.

Goodall said, “Fast...faster than you could believe. It was like a movie.”

They lost everything, as did seven other families; some of them from Burmese, who are new to the country.

That's where Youth Pastor Craig Iott comes in.

Fincher is one of his youth, and together with the members of Harvest Church, they've been taking in donations for the fire victims.

“This is my job. It's the greatest job in the world,” Iott said.

It’s a job that has given families, like Hayley's, something to be grateful for.

“It's really overwhelming...it's almost hard to take it all in,” she said.