Threealarm fire in NW Oklahoma City destroys building, forces evacuations next door
Mar 28, 2025
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A three-alarm fire late Thursday night resulted in a total loss for a northwest Oklahoma City apartment event center. The flames got so bad, they even had to evacuate residents of an apartment complex next door out of caution.
Video sent to KFOR by a viewer on Friday morn
ing showed what looked like a sea of flames at the Grand Occasions Event Center near Portland Avenue and NW 23rd Street.
"I went outside, and my neighbor was like, ‘get out, get out,’” next door apartment resident Amaya Johnson said. "I was sweating. I was shaking."
Johnson has lived in the apartments next door to the fire for only a few weeks. The flames forced her to wake up her one-year-old child and get out.
"My neighbors like 'go park somewhere else.' I'm like 'no, I'm fixing to leave,’” she said.
Fire officials on scene said the blaze erupted around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday. By the time they got to the scene, the fire had engulfed most of the building.
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"We did have a significant collapse of the roof on the backside of the structure of the north side of the structure,” said David Shearer, shift commander with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
Fortunately, no one was inside. No flames made it next door, but heavy smoke did. At that point, firefighters decided it was best to evacuate. Shearer said some people didn’t want to leave at the time.
"The police department assisted us with that, but they were eventually evacuated,” Shearer said. "We wanted to make sure that we didn't have anybody in harm's way."
One person was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Johnson said she didn’t get back to her apartment until about 2 a.m. and is just thankful she and her son weren’t hurt.
"This is my first experience, like having to go through all this. It was scary for me,” she said.
The building is considered a total loss, but firefighters did not have a numerical estimate on the cost. When KFOR crews were on scene Friday morning, some firefighters were monitoring the area for hot spots. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. ...read more read less
