Investigation Continues Into Fatal Okmulgee County House Fire

An Okmulgee County couple died after their house caught fire on the Fourth of July.

Although it was on the holiday those in the town of Grayson said they don't believe it was related to fireworks.

Family members said the couple was able to escape through a small bathroom window and once they got outside they went separate ways.

The woman had severe burns but was able to tell her loved ones she heard three pops and then an explosion.

The front of the house is gone and the top of the cedar tree is singed from flames that shot through the night sky Saturday.

Grayson Volunteer Fire Chief and Mayor, Reverent Leon Anderson said, “Basically the house was fully engulfed at the time.”

Anderson lives just a few blocks away. He and another volunteer got to the burning home before anyone else.

“First thought is, 'who's inside?' and to get whoever's inside outside the house,” he said.

There was some relief when he learned no one was inside, but it was short-lived.

“As we were fighting the fire, the guys said, 'Well there's the man that lived there’ and you could tell that he was severely burned,” Anderson said. “They both was in bad shape. They were severely burned.”

Both were taken to a Tulsa hospital by helicopter, but neither survived.

The victim's - Clement Hall and Angie Barnett - were in a News On 6 story last year when Hall was charged with beating his pit bulls in Tulsa.

5/8/2014 Related Story: Tulsa Man Accused Of Animal Abuse Says He Was 'Disciplining' Not Beating

He denied the accusations as Barnett, Hall's fiancé, sat on the porch with the dogs.

Several months later, with Hall's animal cruelty charges pending, the couple and their dogs moved to Barnett's hometown of Grayson.

They hadn't been there long, but their landlord Robert Fox said they seemed happy together.

“I never saw her one time, not one time, with a frown on her face,” he said.

Now, two red crosses not far from the charred home mark the spot where Hall collapsed.

And about a block up the street is another makeshift memorial for Barnett, who, after the explosion, fell while trying to run to her mother's house.

Witnesses said before Barnett was flown to Tulsa she asked someone to make sure the dogs were okay.

Family said the dogs were fine and are now at a local shelter.

The State Fire Marshal's office is investigating and agents hope to know by the end of the week what started the fire.