Tulsa Rowing Club Assesses Damage From Overnight Arson

Fire investigators believe someone deliberately set fire to the Tulsa Rowing Club building on the west side of the Arkansas River.

A firefighter was injured while fighting the flames when the roof caved in on him. While he is now home recovering, several high school students are looking for a new place to store their equipment.

"This is the boat I learned on and I love this boat," rowing club president, Scott Fujan, said.

Members of the Tulsa Rowing Club are in shock after they learned vandals broke into their building and set fire to it around 10 p.m. Sunday.

1/25/2016: Related Story: TFD: Fire At River West Festival Park Deliberately Set

Boats are now covered in soot, some too damaged to salvage.

The fire is believed to have started in the back of the building where a lot of the club's training equipment is kept.

Facility manager, Mike Kneafsey said, "It just makes you angry about the vandals in this city, the people who have nothing better to do than destroy personal property and take people down."

The club house sits on the banks of the Arkansas River; and when water is high enough, they waste no time getting out on the water.

"We have our juniors, our high school program, that row out of there. We have our adult master’s program. You know, we work hard, we don't bother anybody, we just don't know why anybody would do this. We just come and row," member Suzanne Dunn said.

Tulsa Fire Investigators are now looking for whoever set the fire.

Captain Stan May, said, "They gained access somehow and locked back up after they left, apparently. They weren't supposed to be in there. They've found the area that the fire started in, they just haven't given us a cause yet."

The club is now looking for a place to store the boats that weren't destroyed as they start to clean up.

Fujan said, "Disappointing, but we just need to bounce back."

"It's not worth it to do this stuff and destroy people's property; have a better heart," said rowing club member, Dione Sturd.

Despite the damage to their building, team members are in high spirits and have eyes on a winning spring season.

"The spirit of the team is not some equipment, the spirit of the team is the fact that these kids come and they train really hard as any other kid in this town to do a sport they love," said coach Neil Bergenroth.

If you have any information, the Tulsa Fire Department is asking you to call the arson tip line at 918-596-ARSN.

If you'd like to help the Tulsa Youth Rowing Association, you can make donations here.