Tulsa Neighbors Thankful No One Injured In Apartment Fire

After a fire ripped through their homes, 16 Tulsa families are very thankful to be alive.

The fire started on Wednesday around 3:30 p.m. at the Avondale Apartments near 67th and Trenton.

Many of the families are staying in vacant apartments until they can figure out what to do next.

While most of their belongings are torched, they all said they were thankful no one was hurt.

Neighbor Edith Dicks said, "We saw the flames on the other side of the apartments, so we started busting down the doors to get all the animals out."

As neighbors got everyone out, high winds quickly spread the fire and forced the fire department to call a second alarm for more help.

"The wind shifted, and all the east side started filling up with smoke, and the fire department did a heck of a job putting out the smoke - they saved the rest of the animals in there," Dicks said.

11/25/2015 Related Story: Fire At Avondale Apartments Brought Under Control

Firefighters carried more than half-a-dozen dogs and cats out of the apartments thanks to neighbors like Anna Wolf, who pointed out which apartments had animals inside.

"I immediately told the policeman, '"Get Goldilocks out of there,'" Wolf said.

Goldilocks' owner, Madelyn Thide, was driving home and spotted the smoke. As soon as she pulled up she headed toward her apartment with on thing on her mind, saving her dog.

"I just went over to my apartment and the fireman was telling me, 'No lady, you can't go in because the building could collapse,'" Thide said.

Wolf was able to get Thide's attention, who then saw Goldilocks just a few feet away - wagging her tail and sitting in her cage.

As neighbors reunited with their pets, firefighters climbed into the attic to extinguish the flames, then, worked for hours putting water on hotspots.

"You can replace a place to live, but somebody gets killed or burned...thank God nothing happened," Thide said.

Firefighters said the people in nearby buildings were lucky, because, on windy days, the flames can spread five to six times faster and could have jumped buildings.