Saturday, January 4th 2014, 10:32 am
Bartlesville Chief of Police Tom Holland said firefighters discovered the bodies of five people after responding to a house fire early Saturday. The fire department was called to the home in the 300 block of NW Sunset at about 5 a.m.
"We have five confirmed dead," Holland said. "My understanding is that all five were in the house."
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents were on scene Saturday afternoon.
"Our crime scene people were called out there at the request of the Bartlesville Police Department," OSBI spokesperson Jessica Brown said.
News On 6 spoke to family members outside the west Bartlesville home. Kizzy Hagan of Copan said her aunt owns the residence, and a 19-year-old cousin lives there along with his girlfriend.
"It's devastating," she said. "I don't know how to handle it because we don't know who was there. We don't know what happened."
Homeowner Debbie Prentice says she believes her grandson is dead.
"The police haven't said nothing to me. They won't even confirm that my grandson is in there," she said.
BPD Sgt. David Hackler has been actively working the scene with firefighters.
He said Saturday afternoon that they don't expect to release any further information on the fire or the victims until the first of next week.
"They've all been taken to the medical examiner's office in Tulsa, and we're working with them to determine their identities and the cause of death," Hackler said.
Bartlesville Fire Chief Billy Phillips said the house was fully involved when crews arrived on scene and the house appeared to be a total loss.
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