Fire Destroys Two Businesses in Downtown Tulsa

Flames and smoke filled Tulsa's downtown Sunday when a fire destroyed two businesses. The fire started at about 11am in a warehouse at 2nd and Kenosha. Not only was it a powerful fire to see, it was

Sunday, November 14th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Flames and smoke filled Tulsa's downtown Sunday when a fire destroyed two businesses. The fire started at about 11am in a warehouse at 2nd and Kenosha. Not only was it a powerful fire to see, it was a ferocious one to fight.
Firefighters started putting water on the hot burning fire within minutes the flames shooting high into the sky. The intensity built fast, causing it to spread at lightning speed it took 15 units and some 60 firefighters to keep up. The black smoke quickly filled the air, catching the attention of people who lived and worked nearby and others who just happened to spot it from a distance. The smoke at times got so thick, you'd have to look long and hard just to see someone standing across the street from the warehouse. "We attempted an interior attack, putting our firefighters inside, but, we got worried about the building, the integrity of it, so we had to bring them back outisde, but, they were still fighting it very aggressively," says Tulsa Fire Captain Hubert Rouse. The warehouse held two businesses, a canvas making company and Allied Refrigeration. No employees were inside and no one got hurt. Although, some witnesses say they did see a couple of people running away from the building before the fire started. Firefighters took care of the immediate crisis getting control of the fire monster they saved most of the building and the structures next to it the focus now shifts to the investigators, who must find out what or who caused the fire to start in the first place. Fire investigators would like to talk to anyone who was near the warehouse before the fire or saw anything or anyone suspcious before the fire started.