Tulsa mansion fire cause still a mystery

Wednesday, September 22nd 2004, 5:30 pm

By: News On 6

The cause of a fire that destroyed a Tulsa mansion early Wednesday morning is still under investigation. Fire investigators say the quarter of a million dollar home is a total loss.

The mansion is north of the downtown area near the corner of Edison and Frisco. News on 6 anchor Terry Hood says Tulsa fire investigators say it's going to be a day or two until they determine the cause of the fire that gutted the Abbott Mansion. That's because it's still too unsafe for a major team to head in there.

Crews first found out about the fire around three o'clock Wednesday morning when somebody driving by noticed flames coming out of the windows. By the time firefighters got there, the mansion was already burning out of control.

Fire crews say no one was in the house when they arrived, but the mansion is a popular spot for ghost hunters. Members of the Paranormal Investigative Team of Tulsa - or PITT - say curious trespassers have been prosecuted by the mansion's owner. The property is for sale and no one's lived here for quite a while.

While no one knows yet what started the fire, PITT says even they can rule out one possibility.

Rhonda Lunsford with the Paranormal Investigative Team of Tulsa: "I would hate to see that a legend could be built that a spirit caused this fire because we chose not to believe that spirits are malicious. Do not come out here and think this place got burned down from a spirit. It did not."