North Tulsa Home Destroyed By Fire

A fire destroyed a Tulsa couple's home while they were out of town, they were having a birthday celebration when they got the devastating phone call.

The Tulsa Fire Department responded to the fire in a house on 58th Street North between Osage and Elwood at around 3 a.m.

Firefighters were met by flames and heavy smoke. They had to back out of the home because of a water supply problem. A nearby fire hydrant wouldn't work so they had to spend precious time  locating another hydrant.

It's not a gift Rosie Reed would ever want.

"I've got to come back to this for a birthday, and it's not very pleasing to me at all," Rosie said.

John and Rosie Reed got a call at 2:30 a.m. on Thursday that their home, of more than a decade, was on fire. The Reeds had to cut their birthday stay in Oklahoma City short to figure out what to do next.

Rosie's husband John just kept saying, "It must not have been my time yet."

Since they bought this house, the Reeds said they have done countless home repairs themselves.

"From the ground up we built this house. And I hammered many nails in this house and everything to try and make it livable, and to keep from having to pay people. We paid as we went to build this house."

As far as how it happened, the state fire marshal's office is still investigating. But Reed is just glad she wasn't here.

"God be with us, that's all I can say. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't be here, probably. We could have been in that house you know. But I just thank God we're here and alive," Reed said.