Wood Shingle Roof Warning

Wednesday, June 21st, is a day two Tulsa families will never forget. Itâ€™s the day their south Tulsa homes went up in flames. <br/><br/>Both homes had wood shake roofs. And in an odd coincidence, one

Wednesday, June 21st 2006, 5:14 am

By: News On 6

Wednesday, June 21st, is a day two Tulsa families will never forget. Itâ€™s the day their south Tulsa homes went up in flames.

Both homes had wood shake roofs. And in an odd coincidence, one homeowner was there for both fires. He tells News on 6 reporter Jennifer Loren wood shake roofs are not worth the risk.

Tulsa firefighters say a half-million dollar home in the 8700 block of South Gary was well on its way to rubble when they got there. Tulsa Fire Captain Larry Bowles: "When they turned the corner they could see flames very high in the sky. So the fire got a very good head start on us." The second story was covered in flames, the wood shake roof lit up like a torch. Firefighters say that roof was the perfect fuel for the fire. â€œThereâ€™s plenty of heat, plenty of fuel, plenty of oxygen and the rate of spread in a cedar shingle is 20 to 30 times that of a composition type roof."

People buy wood shingle and shake roofs because they look nice. But firefighters say itâ€™s not worth it. Fire Captain Larry Bowles: â€œFrom our standpoint it is a very hazardous type of roof to have."

Almost every house in this South Gary neighborhood has wood shingles. Except for one house. It burned down a couple of years ago. Now it has a slate roof.

â€œBut itâ€™s all fire proof. Itâ€™s got the slate roof." Tony Holden bought the fire-resistant house did so because he's no stranger to fire. In an odd coincidence, Wednesday morningâ€™s fire at his neighborâ€™s house happened exactly one year after he lost his home which also had a wood shake roof. It was at 106th and Sheridan and exactly one year ago to the day. "I feel like if itâ€™s our place to help the neighbors any way we can; we'll do it and learn by our experience."

And because of his experience, he has some advice for homeowners. â€œI very much discourage anybody from putting a shake roof on their house. I believe they're extremely dangerous."

Fire investigators are trying to figure out what started Wednesday morningâ€™s fire. Last year's fire started in the attic.