OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Area residents are concerned about safety after a home in their neighborhood burns twice in just over a month.
"Just walking out my door, I could feel the heat from across the street, and that's a scary thing," said Sam Frederickson. He is not the only one in his neighborhood worried after a huge house fire back in late March, reports our Oklahoma City affiliate KFOR. But then just over a month later, flames again at the same house, this time at night.
"The second time caused me real concern because there was no one living there. After the second time I'm worried that it's going to happen a third time," said Frederickson.
"We have actually responded to that location 12 times since January 2018," said Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson of the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
OKC Fire obviously knows the house well, their records show they have been to the property 10 times on medical calls and twice for fire in the last 16 months. In fact, their records show they have been to the address 84 times since 1991.
"Obviously the structure needs to come down," said Frederickson.
So why is it still standing?
We called one of the owners. He didn't want to go on camera but says he is waiting to settle with insurance before he takes action on the house. He claims both fires were arson and gang-related. OKC Fire says the cause of both fires is undetermined.
So when will this problem properly be taken care of? We went to OKC City Hall for answers.
"We talking with the property owner and she promises she will tear down the property but if she doesn't soon, the city will take action and we'll tear the property down," said Kristy Yager of the City of Oklahoma City.
The City says when they get calls on a problem house, they investigate, contact the property owners, and if they don't act, the City takes bids, contracts for the home to be demolished and then bill the owners.
"Nuisance properties are a real problem for neighbors and we want to stop that. We want to make sure our neighborhoods are on the way up not on the way down," said Yager.
