Tulsa Firefighters Go Door To Door To Find An Arsonist

Tulsa firefighters spent part of their day Tuesday going door to door to try to generate leads in an arson case that severely injured a fellow firefighter on New Years Eve.

"We're just looking for who was in the neighborhood, any suspicious activity in this area and around the house," said Public Information Office Stan May with the Tulsa Fire Department.

The firefighters are handing out reward flyers in an effort to get leads that help find an arsonist who set a house on fire and nearly killed firefighter James O'Neal, 35.

O'Neal was injured while fighting a house fire on North Elwood on New Year's Eve.  When the 14-year veteran firefighter was rescued by fellow firefighters, he wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse.

He spent six days in the hospital, four in intensive care, but survived.

"We're trying to do this for our brother just to make sure this case is taken care of and something like this doesn't happen in the future," said Tulsa Firefighter Joey Marshall. 

"We're a pretty close knit group, and we're just like family," May said. "You can pick on each other all day long, but when somebody outside tries to do harm to your family, everybody comes together."

Firefighters plan to knock on the doors of 200 homes in the neighborhood.

Firefighter Joey Marshall said it's "not just personal from our standpoint, of just our brother that got hurt, but also for the citizens of Tulsa."

A $5,600 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest in the arson case.

1/9/2012 Related Story: Tulsa Firefighters Intensify Search For Arsonist Who Injured One Of Their Own

They're hopeful that money, and by going door to door, it will generate leads and ultimately a conviction.

"We want to bring home the message that we're going to track these arsonists down and we'll get them," said Stan May, Tulsa Fire Department spokesperson.

The arrest arson hotline is 918-596-2776. Callers remain anonymous.

The reward money is coming from several different sources. A retired New York firefighter, who survived the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center towers, even heard about the Tulsa case and donated to the fund.