Sunday morning at 11:36 am, Guymon Firefighters responded to a 911 in the
900 block of S. May for a reported “smoke coming from an abandoned building”. On
first Engine company arrival they found a large 2-story commercial building with
heavy fire exiting out the roof level windows and large amounts of smoke coming
from much of the rest of the building.
“The building was partly boarded up and Firefighters had to forcibly use tools and
equipment to get into the structure and fight this fire”, stated Fire Chief Grant
Wadley.
Once inside, Firefighters aggressively attacked the fire which was in the
second-story area of the building. The main stairways were engulfed and
destroyed in flames, so Firefighters had to find other means to gain access to the
second floor. It took Guymon Firefighters approximately 30 minutes to gain
control of the fire and another 2 hours to extinguish the remaining hot areas throughout the building.
The building is owned by Opportunity Inc. out of Watonga, Oklahoma, and has
been vacant for many years. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Guymon
Police Department and the Guymon Fire Department. Estimated damage is
$100,000 with no injuries reported.
It was alert neighbors that recognized light smoking coming from the building and
calling 911 quickly which saved this building from complete fire destruction.
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