4 Killed, Including 2 Firefighters, In Waynoka House Fire

Four people were killed in an overnight house fire in Waynoka, the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal's Office said.

Of the four people who died, two were Waynoka firefighters and two were residents of the home.

Firefighters were called shortly after 3 a.m. to a home in the 1700 block of Locust Street in Waynoka.

The Waynoka Volunteer Fire Department requested help from the Alva Fire Department shortly before 3:30 a.m. after the Waynoka firefighters reported the front door was blocked by fire, the fire marshals said.

The two firefighters went inside the home to look for the two residents when the roof collapsed, officials said.

The state fire marshals and the state medical examiner's office were at the scene on Friday. The Waynoka, Alva, Woodward fire departments and state fire marshal’s office were working at the scene.  

“It’s going to be a time consuming investigation, we’re going to have to go slow and it will take a while to dig through it," said James Fullingim, the assistant state fire marshal.

An employee at the inn across the street from the fire saw the flames from his office. 

“It looked like it was further away, so I wasn’t real worried about it, but it kept taking longer and longer, and I kept watching and it got closer," said Gene Withrow, the general manager at Trails Inn and Suites.

For this town of roughly 2,000 people, Withrow said the impact is great. 

“This is going to affect quite a few people here in town. I imagine it will be rough on the whole town right now, but, this is a strong town,” he said. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and the names of the victims are not yet being released.