OKC Man Escapes Burning Home Through Window

Firefighters battled both large flames and intense cold while putting out a fire Wednesday morning in northwest Oklahoma City.

Wednesday, December 7th 2011, 8:37 am

By: News 9


Firefighters battled both large flames and intense cold while putting out a fire Wednesday morning in northwest Oklahoma City.

Mike Evans awoke around 2:30 a.m. when the smoke detectors went off in his home in the 6500 block of N.W. 97th Street near Britton and MacArthur. Evans said by that time his bedroom was filled with smoke. He said he barely had enough time to grab his dogs and escape through a window.

Firefighters arrived just a few minutes later and found flames consuming the house. It took crews a little extra time to access water to fight the fire because the cap on the fire hydrant was frozen.

As firefighters poured water on the flames, they had to be careful not to slip on the ice that quickly formed in the freezing temperatures.

"Anytime we have freezing conditions it creates an extra hazard for our men and women," said Battalion Chief Mike Kelley with the Oklahoma City Fire Department. "Anything that the water touches will freeze, creating slipping hazards. We also have the issue of water freezing in the hose lines if we don't keep water moving."

Firefighters remained at the house putting out hotspots until around 7 a.m. No one was hurt, but the house was heavily damaged.

The homeowner speculates the fire may have been caused by an electrical problem. Evans said he'd been working on an electrical outlet in the garage that kept shorting out. Firefighters are still investigating to determine the cause of the fire.

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