Tulsa Building Explodes; Women Nearby Rescue Trapped Man

Wednesday, April 9th 2014, 9:37 pm

By: News On 6

A massive explosion leveled a Tulsa business on Wednesday night.

Firefighters worked well into the morning to make sure flames at Sabre Chemicals Company did not kick back up.

The business, located at 47th Street and Mingo Road, burst into flames just before 8 p.m.

There's quite an incredible story coming from all of this -- a mother and a daughter say they helped rescue a man trapped behind the fence.

An orange glow illuminated the Tulsa sky, as firefighters high atop their ladder trucks, fought fireballs shooting from Sabre Chemical Company, a business Tulsa Fire Captain Stan May says is packed full of gasoline and oil products.

"Once it started going, it went pretty quick," May said.

But before the fire really got going, Pat Mirose, who by chance was working late at LawnMaster Quality Pays across the street, smelled smoke and heard the first of many explosions.

"Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom," Mirose said. "It just kept exploding and flames shot up real high and smoke and it was terrible."

Between the blasts, Pat and her daughter, Sarah, heard the screams of a trapped man behind a metal fence.

"I guess there was no other way out because it was on fire inside," Pat said.

"He kept trying to climb and he kept slipping back down," Sarah said. "I was like, ‘Are you OK? Do you need help?' And he was like, ‘Yeah, get me out, get me out, I'm on fire!'"

That's when the women jumped in their truck.

"I was like, "We're gonna need a chain to get this fence off, it's not coming off," Sarah said.

So they hooked a chain to the truck and the fence, then gunned it.

It took three tries, but eventually the force ripped the fence apart, freeing the man not a moment too soon.

"Right after I pulled out of there the whole thing blew up," Pat said. "So he just got out of there just in time. And I just thank the Lord we were there to help him."

Pat said the man's son was also working inside the fenced area. He, too, made it out safety.

The men were treated for minor burns, and no other injuries were reported.

The women said the rescue mission wouldn't have been possible without three men who helped them hook the chain to the fence.

According to firefighters, no evacuations were ordered, but they will be monitoring runoff water from the firefight to make sure it's not contaminated.

The cause is under investigation.