Tulsa Firefighters Battle Rapidly Spreading House Fire

Flames shot into the air as Tulsa firefighters battled a large house fire late Saturday night at 6th and Norfolk. It took close to an hour to bring the blaze under control.

Captain Jerry Benefield told the News On 6 flames fully engulfed the second story of the approximately 1,800 square-foot home when the first crews arrived at about 11 p.m.

Crews made an interior attack but had to be pulled out of the home because the fire was spreading so rapidly, he said.

The blaze apparently started on the second floor and quickly broke through the roof. Benefield said he believes the house was vacant.

The cause is under investigation, but Benefield said fires in abandoned houses are more common in the winter months.

"You have the indigent and homeless people coming in and trying to find a place to get warm," he said. "They start a little fire to get themselves warm, and it usually gets out of hand."

At about the same time, other crews were sent to a structure fire at an abandoned house at 1500 N. Atlanta in Tulsa. It was in the detached garage of a vacant home.