Emergency Tulsa Fire Shelter Evacuated Over Gas Odor

Tulsa firefighters briefly evacuated a Red Cross emergency shelter set up for victims of an apartment complex fire on Sunday.

The shelter is at the Southern Hills Baptist Church near 56th and Lewis.

Firefighters were called to the shelter just before 4:30 a.m. Monday after someone smelled natural gas in the building.

The Red Cross said 21 men, women and children are staying at the shelter. Officials said everyone had to wait outside while the fire department searched for the source of the odor, which turned out to be a stove in the kitchen.

After the fire department was called, the residents were let back inside after several minutes in temperatures that felt like 13 degrees.

"Come on everybody get your kids. And now you gotta rush and get your kids again. And now we standing in the cold again," said resident Nakisha Harris.

The Red Cross set up the shelter after a fire at the Casa Linda apartments near 61st and Peoria on Sunday. Even though the fire damaged only a small portion of the building, it also damaged the complex's electrical infrastructure so the electricity will be off until it can be repaired.

1/10/2016 Related Story: Tulsa Fire Burns Up Apartments, But Not Positive Attitudes Of Residents

Casa Linda management said it'll be a few days before folks can get back into their apartments.

At this point, the people staying at the shelter - like Diana Austin - just want to things to get back to normal.

"We have no clue where we're going to be able to go home...so it's stressful," Austin said.

The Red Cross said they'll have the shelter open until the power's back on at Casa Linda.

Hazmat crews came out again later Monday for another small gas leak in a food warmer.

The church is now repairing both gas appliances.