Anadarko man loses home of over 50 years to fire
ANADARKO, Okla. (KFOR) — A Kiowa elder in Anadarko lost everything after a devastating house fire.
Rudy Oheltoint Sr. was home alone when it suddenly burst into flames by a space heater.
A Ring camera captured the early smoke and potentially saved his life.
His family found out about it through the video and was able to call for help, when they arrived they found the home they all loved burned to the ground.
"We all grew up out here on this land, you know, ever since we were little kids and then my brothers they got married they had families of their own and their kids, their grandkids.
This was home to him and it's all gone now," said Bridgette Prentiss, Rudy's sister.
The family says it may not have looked like much from the outside, but the home was filled with countless memories of several generations.
"My dad had amps, he loves to go to music shops, pawnshops and collect amps, guitars and he was going to pass that guitar collection down to my nephew and that's gone, so there's a lot of stuff out here, dolls that I had that were special," said Debra Williams, Rudy's daughter.
Many of the memories though are tied to Rudy's late wife, Barbara Ann.
"It kind of felt like losing her again because everything that she owned, everything he owned was in there and this was still home," said Williams.
The family is now coming together to help clean up and find anything salvageable, like photos.
On a tight budget, no home insurance and living alone at 84 years old, Rudy is now facing an uncertain future.
His family says they'll be here to help him rebuild and stay on the property they all call home.
"He's been here for 52 years and this is all he really knows, so we're going to try to get him back out here as soon as we can, he said he wants to have a place to die out here, so we're going to try to get that done for him," said Williams.
They hope to build him a tiny home.
A GoFundMe has been set up, to donate, click here.
Donations can also be made to his bank account set up for Rudy Oheltoint Sr. at Anadarko Bank of Commerce.