Fire Claims The Life Of Elderly Okmulgee County Man

NewsOn6.com

PRESTON, Oklahoma -- Okmulgee Fire Chief Rick Mitchell says investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a house fire that killed an 86-year-old man near Preston Wednesday evening. 

The name of the victim has been identified as William Howell.

Firefighters were called to the home on Celia Berryhill Road just east of U.S. Highway 75, but by the time they arrived, Howell's son and grandson had gotten him out of the house. 

Firefighters were able to knock the fire down quickly. 

Mitchell says the son noticed the fire and went next door to call 911.  The son thought his dad had made it out of the house, but after making the call, the son and grandson broke in the back door and found the elderly man just inside the door. 

Howell was taken to a Tulsa hospital, where he was pronounced dead.