Fireworks May Have Sparked Fire at Vacant School Building

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Three people are in police custody after being interviewed by fire investigators about a large four-alarm fire Sunday at an old, vacant school building in northeast Oklahoma City.

The old Truman Elementary School building, NE 13th and Kelham, has been vacant for nearly 20 years, and was completely gutted by the blaze.

Fire investigators have not determined the exact cause of the fire, but neighbors said they have their suspicions.

"Just a couple of bangs, you know, like how the fireworks sound. That's what it sounded like," neighbor Lucile Augustine said.

A woman, who did not want to give her name, called 911 and said she saw several teenagers running from the building about the time the fire started.

"There was somebody with fireworks and we saw smoke coming out of the top of the building and I called the fire department," she said.

Nearly 75 firefighters battled the relentless blaze. Billowing black smoke covered the neighborhood and could be seen for miles.

"It was very stubborn. Fire crews never made entry inside the structure due to the heavy fire conditions, also to the fact that this building has been boarded up," said Oklahoma City District Fire Chief Brian Stanaland. "The older method of construction has a lot of wood in there and wooden members of the old building and that's probably making for the heavy fire load."

According to hud.gov, at one point there were discussions of turning the building into a community center, but currently there are no plans. One neighbor said the building was used for storage by Oklahoma City Public Schools but a spokesperson for the school system could not confirm that information.

As firefighters fought for several hours, next door neighbors could do nothing but watch and wait for the smoke to clear.

"We have a lot of children over here and we have a lot of elderly here and we don't want to see anybody getting hurt," said Augustine. "I'm glad that it was an empty building and not someone's home."

No injuries were reported.