Evening star., 1949-12-04
; Killed, Il Injured
IN Dormitory Fire at
Oklahoma University
By the Assoeiatsd Press

By the Assoeiatsd Press
NORMAN. Okla. Dec. 3.-A
flash fire swept through wooden
dormitory at the University Of
Oklahoma today and burned three
men students to death.
Twenty-one were injured, two
critically.
More than 800 others escaped
unhurt except for minor injuries
to about SO who received first aid
University officials said late this
afternoon all the students in the
dormitory at the time of the blaze
had been accounted for.
Identification Difficult.
Those who died in the blaze
were identified as:
Price D. Starks, Oklahoma City
His body was burned beyond rec
ognition but Identification was
made through the location of the
body in the ruins and by checking
the list of those known to have
been in the building.
Sammy j. Larue, 20, son Of MIR
and Mrs. Sam j. Larue, Clinton
Okla.
Maurice Ahearn, jr.. 26. KILL
,tngsworth, Conn.
Larue's identification was made
through a watch he owned and
Ahearn's through his effects and
= ring.
The two critically injured were
David M. Clary, Buckner. Ark,
and John H. Sorensen. Brooklyn.
N. Y.
Many Jump From Windows.
There were 349 men students in
the dormitory.
Awakened suddenly in the early
morning hours, many of them
jumped from the windows of the
sprawling two-story wooden struc-
ture, formerly used as Navy
barracks.
Tonight survivors said Ahearn
was credited with saving several
lives by pounding doors and rous-
ing sleeping students. But he
didn't save himself. The engi-
neering juniors body was found
in the smoldering ruins just a
few feet from an exit. a.-.
Sorenson said Ahearn could
have escaped easily. but stayed
to help others.
Long after the flames had died
away, leaving the buildings con-
crete supports standing like tomb
stones in graveyard, university
officials worked feverishly to iden-
tify the dead and missing.
1t was tedious job because an
unknown number of dormitory
residents had departed for the
week end.
Anxious parents swamped the
university switchboard with te1e-
phone calls from all over the
country. .z* a.
Cause of Fire. Undetermined.
Origin of the fire, which en-
veloped the building in less than
10 minutes, was still undeter-
mined. Estimates of the damage
ran beyond half a million dollars.
, The office of DR.. George l..
Cross. university president, placed
the loss at around $500 900. Prop
erty Custodian L. J.. Hughes said
1t would be between $600.00 and
100000. not including students
personal losses. |
University Fire Chief Claude
Summers said campus dormitories
are inspected monthly. He said
the dormitory destroyed today was
inspected November s.
Mr.. Summers said q night
vatchman's timeclock was
punched 45 minutes before the
first report of the fire was re-
ceived.
The fire department received
the first alarm at 2:55 am.
&C. S. IT,.
Thought Alarm Was Joke.
The university is located at
Norman. 18 miles south of Okla
home City. The barracks was To-
Gated on what is known as the
South Campus, adjacent to the
original university campus. It
formerly was used as a Naval air
technical training center. The
university took over the former
Naval base following The war and
used many Of the barracks as
housing and classrooms for stu
dents.
The destroyed dormitory was on
the southeast corner of the South
Campus. 1t was used during the
war as bachelor officers quarters.
I. When the fire started students
ran through the halls shouting
that the building was af1re.
y Many thought at first it was a
practical joke. but the roaring
Names and intense heat soon af-
I1rmed the warning.
Y Many war veterans housed in
The barracks jumped from their
windows in scanty clothing and
the GI subsistence
checks they, had just received.
\ This was the second fire in a
former Navy barracks on the
South. Campus in two years.
Thanksgiving Day, 1947. a bar
racks housing the geology depart
.ment was destroyed but there
were no casualties.