Oklahoma City, OK – Sprinkler system kept cooking fire from spreading; No injuries reported

Firefighters have battled a blaze at a hotel in southwest Oklahoma City.

Crews responded just after 10:30 a.m. Monday morning to the scene at the Oak Tree Inn and Suites near I-40 and Meridian.

Officials said the cause of the fire is a cooking accident. It started on the third floor, and firefighters said they had to act fast.

“It did appear to start in a room, and it spread to a room or two and into the attic area,” Oklahoma City Fire Department PIO Benny Fulkerson said. “You’re dealing with a pretty old building here; it’s not brand new. Any time you get a fire into the attic of a building, it can become catastrophic pretty quickly.”

It was later discovered a sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading into the attic. According to the Oklahoma City Fire Department, it was a 3-alarm fire.

Oklahoma City resident Joe Acord was mowing the grass at the Waffle House next door when he noticed the flames.

“I actually saw the flames coming out of that one third floor room. I didn’t see any other rooms that were on fire,” Acord said. “I did see some stuff coming out of the eve but, right when I basically looked back, the fired department actually showed up.”

The fire was out 15-20 minutes after firefighters arrived on scene.

Officials said two units sustained heavy fire damage, while six others had water and smoke damage.

Part of the hotel was evacuated as firefighters continued to extinguish the blaze and check for hot spots.

There are no injuries.