Sapulpa Man Overcome With Losing Son, House In Fire

A Sapulpa man needs your help. He tried to save his son in a house fire last year, but his son lost his life. He's one of Oklahoma's Own who's recovering from injuries and trying to rebuild his life.

It's been a rough six months for William Locust. After that fatal fire his local community is rallying behind him.

"I'm just at about a standstill right now," said William Locust, fire victim. William Locust is trying to get back on his feet.

Last December, Locust says he was outside and noticed his house was on fire. His son Matthew was trapped.

Before firefighters arrived on scene, Locust ran into the home desperately trying to save his son's life in the upstairs bedroom.

"And the second time I run back in there it done burnt my arms. It burnt my hair on my head you know. I couldn't get back up," Locust said.

Firefighters said they couldn't get to his son in time.

Family members said Matthew was disabled with arthritis and likely trapped in the fire because of his condition.

For William, he's trying to piece together his life and needing any help he can get to get back on his feet.

"When you lose just one individual, you've been with them 40 something years - you know, that is a tragedy to me," William Locust said.

12/10/2012 Related Story: Father Injured Trying To Rescue Disabled Son In Fatal Sapulpa House Fire

A local church has been trying to help Locust with rebuilding.

"We've been calling all kinds of organizations;we've been calling places to see if we can get a dumpster, just calling everyone we can call, stirring up whatever we can stir to try to get some help to this elderly man," said the Reverend Robert Robison, Oakridge Baptist Church.

Reverend Robison has known Locust for a long time. He says Locust is still overcome with the loss of his son in the fire.

"He's a tough man; he's old school, but you can come here and sit down in our little visiting area here, talk to him a few minutes and he'll get to talking about a certain things and you can see his heart begin to break," Robison said.

Now Locust is living in a camper out in his driveway. One day he hopes a now charred building will be his home again.

"It's hard because you ain't got much to move around or nothing, and so you just have to do the best you can with what you got to do with," said William Locust, who lost his son and his home in a fire last year.

Call Oakridge Baptist Church at 918-446-3156 to help.