Emergency Crews Respond To House Fire In Guthrie, Roof Collapses On 19 Cats

(Content provided by the Guthrie News Page.)

Early this morning a fire caused the roof of a Guthrie home to cave in. The man who was renting the property made it out safely, but over a dozen cats are still missing." 

"You drive by here any time, the front doors open," Randy Capps, a friend of the property owner, said. 

Capps said the renter wanted to allow his 19 cats to roam freely. "Yeah... He's just kind of a free spirit," Capps added. 

Wednesday morning's fire left that man injured and 13 of his cats missing. 

Fire Chief Dane Lausen says it started when the man was asleep. "But [he] woke up to a smoke alarm going off and was able to make it out of the structure safely," Lausen said. 

Fire crews were dispatched around 6 AM. "When they arrived on scene the roof had already collapsed so they were forced to go to a defensive strategy," Lausen said. 

Hours later, they were still putting out hotspots, and only 6 cats were accounted for. "The owner told me this morning that he's taken one of the windows out so that the cats could come in and out," Capps said, adding that he’s hopeful more of the cats made it out safe. 

Capps also knows a thing or two about fire safety-- "I put in fire protection for 32 years," Capps explained. 

He says the smoke detector was a lifesaver. "Smoke detectors work," he said. 

And Capps has just one piece of advice. "It's cheap life insurance to keep your smoke detectors with good batteries in them," Capps said. 

The cause of this fire hasn’t been determined but the Guthrie fire is reminding the community to be mindful during the winter season. 

They suggest making sure to check smoke detectors, and space heaters, and warn homeowners to try not to overload their outlets.