Daughter Remembers Father Who Died In House Fire Monday In NE OKC

An Oklahoma City woman's father died in a house fire Monday afternoon, two years after her mother lost her fight with cancer.

“I just went into a rage because here I am thinking to myself this was the only parent I had left. I just recently lost my mother in 2019 of cancer,” she said.

Bethany Smith-Whitaker said her father had just dropped her off at work Monday a couple hours before their house went up in flames.

“I had just spoken to him; I was just with him that morning then two hours later he is dead! He said, ‘I love you too baby’ that was basically the last time I saw him,” she said.

She said her father was her best friend.

“I have not been able to sleep well or eat or anything. My father was not only my father he was my best friend. Me and him had a really strong bond,” said Whitaker.

“His name is Lynn Whitaker, just a good guy. He has been in the neighborhood for 25 years,” said Edwin Moreland, Lynn’s neighbor.

Bethany said she still remembers word-for-word the phone call with her aunt.

“‘Where is my father, is he alright?’ She said, ‘he is in the house.’ I said ‘OK, well is he alright?’ She tells me, ‘No, he is not.’ My heart just sank after that,” she said.

“I was using this axe to try and break the widows on the side, trying to hit the lock on the bars. It wouldn’t work,” said Moreland.

Related: Neighbors Tried To Save Man From NE OKC House Fire Before Firefighters Arrived

Whitaker is staying with family while she gets back on her feet and has advice for others as she goes through this hard time.

“There are people going downhill every day from COVID, cancer, diabetes anything. Just spend enough time with each other as much as you can,” she said.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department is investigating the cause of the fire.