A woman is dead and a family is devastated after a house fire in southwest Oklahoma City Thursday morning. Firefighters responded to reports of a house fire near SW 76th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. A woman was found inside the home and later died at the hospital, authorities said.
Shartara Thomas, a neighbor, said she smelled smoke and saw it coming from the roof of the home. She stopped to check on the residents. โI went to knock on the door, rang the Ring doorbell โ somebody answered it, but no one said anything,โ Thomas said. โI kept ringing it and started beating on the door. The garage was on fire.โ Firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames. Most of the fire damage was contained to the garage, though smoke and fire damage was also found inside the home, according to OKC Fire Assistant PIO John Chenoweth. The woman was discovered in a bedroom.
Police and fire investigators began treating the site as a possible crime scene. The Oklahoma City Police Departmentโs crime scene unit arrived before noon to collect evidence. โJust like with any investigation, weโre gathering the basics on scene,โ said Sgt. Jon Skuta with OKCPD. โDetectives and fire investigators will work together to determine a cause.โ
The victim has not been officially identified, but family members at the scene said she was 45-year-old Kellie Cam. They described her as a wonderful person who was deeply loved and cherished by many. Neighbors say Cam had seven dogs, several of which were rescued from the home. Two dogs remain unaccounted for. โMy heart just sunk,โ said neighbor Kara Purbis. โThis is truly devastating. I really hope we find out what happened.โ The Oklahoma City police and fire departments are conducting a joint investigation. The cause of the fire and the womanโs death remain under investigation.
