Tahlequah Fire Department Investigates Suspicious Apartment Fire

A large apartment fire that happened Sunday night in Tahlequah is under investigation.

The Garden Walk Apartment complex was badly damaged, but Fire Chief Casey Baker said nobody was hurt. Baker said it's not the first time the fire department has responded to this building.

"There was a fire there about six months prior that we were called to,” Baker said. “An apartment complex where we actually made an arrest and the person that set that fire is now in prison.”

The building was unoccupied, and Baker said dumpsters nearby were also on fire, adding more questions about how this fire started.

"It's going to be suspicious in nature because there were no utilities to the building, so no electric, no water, nothing there to cause a fire," Baker said. 

Sheri Drywater lives in a nearby building at the complex and watched as the flames took over.

"I was sitting right over here on a picnic table watching and I couldn't believe how high they were shooting up just real high in the air, it was bad," Drywater said. 

She said it's bizarre another fire happened in the same building. She's also unsettled since it happened so close to where she lives.

"It's scary, not knowing who is doing it,” Drywater said. “I mean they caught the guy who did it in this first apartment, but I have no idea who could have done it this time.”