Bartlesville Couple Angered By Hotel Charge After House Fire

A Bartlesville couple is upset after a fire caused heavy damage at their home. The couple is thankful for emergency assistance from the American Red Cross to pay for immediate needs.

The Red Cross does amazing work, helping 2,600 fire victims in Eastern Oklahoma each year.

That includes one family in Bartlesville after their house caught fire.

But they say the way they were treated by an area hotel, stinks.

Coping with a fire is terrible.

"It's devastating. You don't believe it has even happened to you," said Natalie Cook, fire victim.

The smoky smell. The damage. The lost treasures. 

"This wall was pictures of my grandchildren," Cook said, going through the damaged home.

The Red Cross helped Natalie Cook and her husband after their house fire with a debit card with money to cover two nights in a hotel, food and some clothing. 

"Very thankful they stepped in to help," Cook said.

They're grateful, but also outraged over what happened next. After two nights at Bartlesville's Best Western they say they were charged an extra $150 penalty for smoking in a non-smoking room.

"How could somebody do something like that to someone who just had a disaster happen to them," Cook said.

Cook says that the odor wasn't from cigarettes.

"The smell they are smelling is from my house fire on my clothes," she said. "That was the only clothes I had to wear at the time."

The Cooks and their daughter say the hotel won't budge. 

"They were in dire need of that money, because they're going to have to replace everything they own," said daughter Miranda Gargett.

In addition, a hold was also put on the rest of the money on the Red Cross card, which is customary until charges clear.

The American Red Cross has since mediated with the hotel to free up the money that was held on that debit card, which gives the family some money to meet their immediate needs. However, they're still facing that $150 penalty."

"Corporate said their hands are tied because Best Westerns, some of them are individually owned," Gargett said.

The local hotel refuses to comment right now. 

"Here's another picture of my daughter when she was little. It's wet," said house fire victim Natalie Cook.

The sum of $150 may not sound like much, but it is a lot when you've lost nearly everything.

"I don't see how somebody could be treated like this," Cook said.

One reason the hotel isn't commenting is because the general manager is out this week after having surgery. She's expected back on Monday or Tuesday.

But the couple is outraged at a Bartlesville hotel where they stayed for a couple of nights after the fire. They say the hotel charged them a $150 penalty for smoking in a non-smoking room.

The Cooks say they didn't smoke in the room and that the smoky odor came from their clothing salvaged from their fire damaged home.

They say they really need that assistance money for other things like clothes and toiletries.

Keep checking back to this story for updates, and News On 6 viewers can watch Craig Day's report in the 6 p.m. newscast.