Former Bakery Owners Remember Role In Aftermath Of Oklahoma City Bombing

A downtown business owner is pausing to remember how they helped others in the moments after the Oklahoma City Bombing.

Brown's Bakery was only a mile from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, and despite recently closing after seven decades of operation, Brenda Martindale said she remembers it like it was yesterday.

Martindale says there were a lot of people in the bakery who were supposed to be in the federal building or near it who just so happened to stop for donuts that morning.

A detour Martindale said that spared them from the largest domestic terrorist attack in US history.

"[They] were in the bakery buying donuts because they were late to work," Martindale said. "That saved their lives."

Martindale said the explosion felt like an earthquake, and that the bakery’s windows actually blew out from the shockwave.

Being close to both the federal building and the local hospital, Martindale said Brown’s became a hub for food being sent to rescue workers, including hot coffee, sandwiches and donuts.

Martindale said she also remembers seeing the Oklahoma Standard on full display that day.

"To see the people who helped, and just dropped everything to help and take care of people, it was just amazing to see," Martindale said.

29 years later, with Brown’s Bakery no longer up and running, Martindale says Apr. 19 is always a time where she reflects on the innocent lives lost.