Family, Friends Remember Victims Of Fatal Bartlesville House Fire 10 Years Later

It’s been a decade since a deadly fire in Bartlesville that killed five people. The families said they still don't know what started the fire and many people at the 10-year-anniversary memorial said they will continue to fight for answers.

Destiny Daugherty, Chase Wright, Kevin Lomax, Shelby Sanders and Jeremy Blair lost their lives on January 4th, 2014 during a house fire. "You learn to live with the pain, but it never goes away," said Michelle Malicoat. 

Malicoat is the mother of Destiny, who said her daughter was just 18 years old when she died, "she brought a smile to everybody, cracked jokes all the time," she said. 

But even after a decade, Malicoat said she still gets upset about her daughter's death every year.  "I know she wouldn't want that. I just want to see some answers and for everybody to remember our babies," she said. 

The ATF and OSBI assisted the Bartlesville Police in the investigation as to how the fire started, but the families still don't have any answers.  "The pain never goes away, and not that knowing anything, having any answers or anything would make the pain go away, because it wouldn't and it wouldn't bring my son back," Edyie Lott. 

Lott is the mother of 17-year-old Chase Wright, the youngest victim who died in the fire, "he had his whole life ahead of him," she said. 

Wright's mother said this memorial site on the property where her son died has become a special [place for her, "my child was cremated so I don't have a grave to go visit so I come here."

Ten years later, friends and family said they're still learning how to live without their loved ones. "Some days it seems like it's been 15 years, and some days it seems like it just happened yesterday," Lott said. 

The families said they will continue to visit the gazebo and keep fighting for answer, "we’re going to keep continuing to do this for our kids and hopefully somebody who knows anything will speak up, and hopefully one day that will happen," said Malicoat. 

The victims' families plan to honor their loved ones at the memorial each year, to bring the community together and help their memory live on

The memorial gazebo is located at 304 N Sunset Blvd, Bartlesville, OK 74003.