'Dangerous': Oklahoma city fire crews seeing annual surge of abandoned structure fires

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahoma City fire crews say the department is in its busiest month for structure fires, especially those that are abandoned and used for warming.

"People are heating their homes more, people are using fireplaces. We have the open vacant structures. The unhoused people are trying to seek shelter and they use warming fires," said Oklahoma City Fire Captain, John Chenoweth. "So our winter months are always the busiest for fires."

One example played out in a neighborhood near Northwest 2nd St. and McKinley Ave. Wednesday afternoon when fire crews say warming fires were started inside of an abandoned school. They said the school is a hot spot for unhoused individuals who are seeking shelter, be it from the cold or other elements.

"They try to be warm, and it's kind of dangerous," said neighbor Maria Olivarez.

Olivarez says it's hard to leave her home without feeling harassed or threatened, and other neighbors News 4 spoke with said they won't let their children play outside. They said the cold and risk of fires near their homes adds another layer of difficulty. News 4 asked Olivarez if she feels safe.

"Sometimes no," said Olivarez. "It's because sometimes we scared."

Chenoweth says, simply put, trying to start a warming fire in a vacant building just isn't a smart idea.

"Once you start a warming fire in an open vacant structure, you don't know how it's going to go," said Chenoweth.

He said vacant fire calls also add unnecessary extra risks as firefighters always have to assume someone could be inside and check for signs of life.

"Our number one priority is life safety," said Chenoweth. "We might fight it from the outside at first, calm the fire down and then we'll go in cautiously and search the property."

Oklahoma City's winter night shelter is currently open at 1601 NW 4th St. from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m.

The fire department says metro citizens can also call the city action center to report vacant buildings that need to be secured.