Last Updated on July 3, 2022, 9:10 AM | Published: July 3, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — The massive 5-alarm fire that consumed the Canton Apartments at Classen Curve in February has been classified as “accidental” by investigators with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
The residential portion of the $65 million 326-unit, five-story complex near N.W. 63rd and Western was a total loss and has been demolished. The attached parking garage survived but was also damaged by the blaze.
Free Press reported the blaze that night:
Eventually, the fire required 49 “pieces of apparatus staffed with 138 personnel plus additional support resources,” according to the incident summary released by the Oklahoma City Fire Department (OKCFD).
The site was still burning in spots around the massive complex into the next several days after the building first caught fire. Emergency demolition allowed fire crews to complete extinguishing trapped fires still burning deep within the complex as reported by Free Press:
OKCFD investigators have issued their full report about the fire, citing electrical malfunctions as a hypothesis “unable to be ruled out.”
Owner statement
The report clears the developers, Humphreys Capitol.
“The Canton Apartment Complex was compliant with all applicable fire codes for that phase of the construction process,” the report stated.
Blair Humphreys, CEO of Humphreys Capitol, issued a statement shortly after the OKCFD issued their report and summary.
“While this process took longer than anyone hoped, we are grateful for the diligent work required to reach a conclusion. As the report notes, this appears to be an accident caused by a bad utility connection inside an OG&E transformer,” said Humphreys.
“We look forward to quickly completing cleanup at the site,” Humphreys said. “Humphreys Capital and our trusted development partners are beginning the complex process of evaluating our options for this prime location. The path forward will be determined by many factors, including the insurance claims process. We do not have a timeline for a final decision, but we look forward to sharing more information with the public when we are able.”
Incident summary and full report
Initially the OKCFD issued only an incident summary and told the press and broadcast media that we would file an open records request for the complete report. But, soon after, they decided to issue the full report.
The following are the Incident Summary and then, the full Origin and Cause report by fire investigator J. Hoffman.
Canton-Fire-Incident-Summary-OKCFD-ORIGIN-AND-CAUSE-REPORT-Redacted
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
