Problems with two Skiatook fire trucks hinder firefighting efforts

A Skiatook family is homeless after a fire ripped through their home Saturday afternoon. <br><br>They say the Skiatook Fire Department sent two faulty fire trucks to their home and it may have cost them

Monday, April 12th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A Skiatook family is homeless after a fire ripped through their home Saturday afternoon.

They say the Skiatook Fire Department sent two faulty fire trucks to their home and it may have cost them everything they owned. News on 6 reporter Patrina Adger has the story.

â€œThatâ€™s my son's red wagon. I just saw that!" A refrigerator and a tool chest are just some of the charred items Edd and Diane Hixson are able to recognize after a fire flattened their 2-story home in Skiatook. "I heard this pop coming from the garage and I walked out to the utility room already had smoke in there."

Edd burned his forehead trying to put the fire out with a garden hose, but the flames were too intense. Diane says two Skiatook fire trucks were dispatched to her home. According to the fire department's report, the first truck malfunctioned and never pumped any water. The second truck pumped about 600 gallons of water before it quit, too. "They couldn't get the primer to work on the truck, so they weren't able to use any water."

The Hixson's say they knew the garage was a loss, but they believe their house could have been saved if the fire department had dispatched the newer truck which is a '92 model, instead of the older truck which is a '78 model.

"We have one truck to protect the citizens of Skiatook because that's who pay for the fire service." Fire Chief Don Butler says it's been a policy for years to use the older truck for rural and structure fires, while the newer truck stays within city limits.

He says he doesn't know why the second truck, a 1984 model, malfunctioned the way it did, but both trucks are out of commission until they can be checked out.

The Hixson's say any explanation provides little comfort right now. The Hixson's were renting their home at the time. So the house was insured by the owner, but not the contents inside.An account has been established at the American Bank Of Oklahoma for The Edd Hixson, Jr. family whose house and possessions were lost in a fire in rural Skiatook April 10th.

Gifts may be forwarded to:

The Edd Hixson, Jr. Family Account
c/o American Bank Of Oklahoma
1525 West Rogers Blvd.
P. O. Box 1060
Skiatook, Oklahoma 74070-5060