Jan. 16--BEGGS -- The hundreds of bicycles that surround Herbert "Bert" Clayton's home so he can restore them for children in need were spared from a house fire last week, but six cats died and he and his wife lost most of their possessions in the blaze.
The Claytons maintain that the first volunteer firefighters from the Beggs Fire Department didn't arrive until 45 minutes after the initial call, despite their home's proximity -- less than half a mile -- to the Beggs fire station.
The city's mayor, Jack Bell, said a caller's miscommunication with dispatchers is to blame.
Bell said a caller who was unfamiliar with the area was connected to Okmulgee County dispatchers and reported a house fire at the corner of Fifth Street and Muskogee Avenue, which are intersecting streets in both Okmulgee and Beggs.
The Okmulgee Fire Department was dispatched in that city but found no fire.
A second caller clarified that the blaze was in Beggs, Bell said.
Okmulgee Fire Chief Rick Mitchell, who lives in Beggs and was off duty at the time, heard the confusion over the departments' radios. He estimated that there was a 10-minute delay between the two calls.
Bell said a Beggs Fire Department truck responded 16 minutes after the second call alerted dispatchers to the correct location. Fire Department logs show that Beggs firefighters received the call at 11:04 a.m. and were at the scene at 11:20.
A dispatch supervisor in Okmulgee County was unavailable to provide documentation of the call, dispatch and response times for the Okmulgee Fire Department.
As is frequently the case with volunteer firefighters, Beggs firefighters maintain full-time jobs elsewhere, and the 16-minute response time included travel time from their work places to the fire station.
Bell asked Beggs residents to call the Police Department at 918-267-4935 in an emergency.
"It's a shame. I'm sad that it happened, but you cannot blame Beggs Fire Department for every problem they've had," Bell said regarding the Claytons.
"Our volunteers are trying and trying to do the best they can. Overall, they have a very good reputation."
The blaze, which appeared to have been caused by a space heater that had been turned on under the house, was contained within about 30 minutes, officials said.
Smoke alerted the couple to the fire.
"We woke up. He got his coffee made. I'm sitting in the front room taking my medicine, and all of a sudden there was smoke coming out of the back bedroom," Cordelia Clayton said.
Bert Clayton went to investigate but couldn't find the source of the smoke.
"By the time I got in there, the smoke was so thick you couldn't see," he said.
He shouted for his wife to get out of the house, and she ran next door to have a neighbor call 911, she said.
Four dogs and one cat survived the fire, but six cats perished.
"Some of those kitty cats were my babies," Cordelia Clayton said. "How do you calm down when you lose things like that? You've lost all your pictures; you've lost all your furniture; you've lost everything you own."
The Tulsa World featured Bert Clayton, "the Bicycle Man," in a January 2012 story.
The Navy veteran, who served in Vietnam, restores bicycles as a means of coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. His workshop sits close to the house but is unattached.
"At least my bicycles are all right and the workshop is still up," he said.
The American Red Cross provided lodging for the Claytons in the days following the blaze. The Claytons then moved into one of Bell's rental homes, where he's volunteered to let them stay 30 days rent-free.
Beggs residents donated a bed, a dining room table and two chairs, and other items to furnish the residence, Bert Clayton said.
The Claytons were scheduled to appear before the City Council for a discussion of the Fire Department's delay at their most recent meeting at 2 p.m. Monday but were not there, Bell said.
The council had chosen at its Jan. 6 meeting to convene at 2 p.m. instead of 6 p.m., the council's regular meeting time, on Jan. 13 because of winter weather. The Oklahoma Open Meeting Act requires that municipalities provide two days' notice of such a change.
The council complied with the statute in its posting of the agenda and changed meeting time, Bell said. A notice at the city of Beggs' offices shows that the agenda was posted at 10 a.m. Friday.
The Claytons said they were not informed of the change.
Amanda Bland 918-581-8413
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