Investigators: Quick Spreading Car Fire Started Tahlequah Apartment Fire

Investigators believe a Tahlequah fire that destroyed an apartment complex started from a car that caught fire.

Investigators said a man was leaving for work Thursday morning and said something sounded wrong when he started his car. They said the man then noticed his engine compartment was on fire and that it quickly spread.

8/14/2014 Related Story: Tahlequah Fire Destroys Apartment Building

Several people were forced out of their homes after a fire damaged a Tahlequah apartment complex. According to Captain Aaron Garrett with Tahlequah fire, 16 units and five vehicles were damaged in the fire.

One Pleasant View Apartments resident, Andrea Rice, escaped with most of her belongings and said she was one of the lucky ones.

“We’re one of the lucky ones, too, because we didn’t lose too much, but other people, they just lost everything,” Rice said. “They lost all of their possessions and their cars, we’re just really lucky.”

It took firefighters about two hours to put out the fire.

Red Cross workers helped residents with food and water.