2 Killed In Muskogee House Fire

The Muskogee Fire Department confirms that 2 people died in a house fire Sunday afternoon.

Sunday, March 24th 2019, 2:13 pm

By: Amy Slanchik

MUSKOGEE — A Muskogee family is grieving the loss of two loved ones and starting over after a devastating fire.

One of the victims is a teenage boy.

The Muskogee Fire Department says the home went up in flames around 4 a.m. Sunday. The flames quickly took over the family’s home after firefighters say something started the fire on the first floor.

“Flames were shooting out of all these windows. You couldn’t, there’s no way in the world the firemen, anyone, could have went up there and saved them,” neighbor Robert Hightower said.

Muskogee firefighters say a 32-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy died. Firefighters say the mother escaped through a second floor window. The father has second and third degree burns.

Assistant Fire Chief John Tipton said firefighters did not find any smoke detectors in the home.

“One of these simple things right here, good possibility everybody could have got out of that house,” Tipton said with a smoke detector in hand.

“To know some young, good lives, just smothered out. I mean, the young boy, he didn’t even get to finish high school,” Hightower said.

Hightower lives next door and said neighbors are working to figure out what they can do to help the family.

“Any help they can get, they deserve, because they’ve been through a lot before this,” he said.

Firefighters are not releasing the victims names right now, until other relatives learn what happened.

Hightower misses his friend, the 32-year-old victim.

“He was the sweetest,” Hightower said. “He always had a smile on his face.”

While a cause has not been officially determined, firefighters are considering several heaters in the home.

Muskogee firefighters want to remind people who live inside city limits who can’t afford a smoke detector, that they will bring you one and install it for free. Call (918) 684-6352 to coordinate.

Amy Slanchik

Amy Slanchik is passionate about storytelling. She joined the News On 6 team in May of 2016 after spending almost two years in Fort Smith, Ark. She is a proud University of Oklahoma graduate.

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