Edmond Family's Home Destroyed After Crews Battled Flames In Extreme Cold

Despite firefighters' efforts, a family's home in east Edmond was ruled a complete loss.

On January 13, the family's house burned for more than two hours as firefighters worked in single-digit temperatures, with a wind chill well below zero.

A family's home now sits frozen, and visibly gutted. “This house has sustained some very heavy fire damage,” said Edmond Assistant Fire Chief Chris Denton.             

Monday, the house sat nestled in yellow tape, snow, and hanging icicles -- transformed from the raging inferno that burned just 48 hours before. “We arrived on scene and had visible flames coming from this house,” said Denton.

Working in the bitter cold and biting wind, “These guys are coming out and they're covered in a sheet of ice because they’ve been in there fighting fire with this water,” said Denton, “The fire we do have left is being wind driven.”

The home’s roof was compromised by fire and ice while the ground turned into an ice rink, “With these temperatures that water turns to ice very, very quickly. We’ve got multiple things that are making it difficult to fight this fire,” said Denton.         

Mounted on a ladder, firefighters dumped tens of thousands of gallons of water into the burning structure. “It's everything we're throwing at it right now, to get this thing knocked down,” said Denton.             

The extreme weather took a toll on firefighters and their equipment. “Not only is it hard with the water on the ground, the hoses we got, the water on the firetrucks, and freezing lines. It’s also very difficult on the firefighters because they are cold,” said Denton. 

Firefighters knocked down the fire in about two hours. Neighbors told News 9 that the family of six managed to safely escape. But said they were still searching for two of their cats.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.