Man Loses Home, Pets In Rural Pottawatomie County Fire

Gan Matthews, News 9

TECUMSEH, Oklahoma -- Garrison David Reneaux didn't have much to begin with, and now he lost the little he did have in a fire in rural Pottawatomie County.

"I have no money, no job," Garrison said. And now the 56-year-old Reneaux has no home.

Thursday morning the small travel trailer he lived in near Tecumseh caught on fire and burned to the ground. Wes Welch, a friend who lives nearby, said Reneaux probably turned on the butane heater he uses to keep warm, and the heater caught a curtain in fire.

The trailer had no running water and no electricity either. Welch said Reneaux ran outside to get water and then went back inside to rescue one of his 18 dogs.

"When he got in there, for some reason he just froze," Welch said. "He had the dog in his arms like this, and I was screaming at him, 'Throw the dog, just throw it out, Garrison. Just throw the dog.'"

Welch got Reneaux and the dog out before the butane tanks inside exploded.

Four of Reneaux's dogs died in the fire.

Now Reneaux is left with little more than the shirt on his back.

"I don't know. I have no money, no job. I'm an old man. What now am I going to do now? you tell me?" Reneaux said.

Welch, neighbors, and a local church are providing temporary shelter and aid for Reneaux. Wes Welch is also appealing to the public to contribute to help the homeless man.