A large house fire broke out Wednesday afternoon near NW 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Oklahoma City, sending firefighters to battle flames just steps from the city’s newest and most talked-about intersection. Drivers were being asked to avoid the area while crews worked to put out the blaze, and as of Wednesday evening, the story was still developing.
Oklahoma City firefighters converged on the scene as the fire consumed the residence, according to News 9. Investigators had not yet released details on what caused the fire, and no information about possible injuries had been made public as of the station’s report. The blaze sits right at the doorstep of The Peanut, Oklahoma City’s first double roundabout, which opened at the NW 10th, Pennsylvania, and Virginia Avenue intersection last month as part of a city effort to cut down on traffic conflict points and slow vehicle speeds, per the City of Oklahoma City.
The fire also lands in a neighborhood already on edge after a rough stretch of August. Six days earlier, a wind-driven wildfire tore through the NW 10th Street corridor farther west near Council Road, destroying structures, forcing evacuations, and shutting down the roadway, as reported by the Oklahoma City Ledger. That fire forced crews to close NW 10th between Mustang Plant Road and Council Road during the response, a reminder of how quickly conditions can turn dangerous along the same thoroughfare.
Extreme Heat Adds to the Danger
Central Oklahoma has been baking under severe summer heat this week, with afternoon temperatures topping 106 degrees and overnight lows staying warm enough to keep fire danger elevated across the metro, Hoodline reported. Those conditions aren’t isolated to this one blaze; on the very same day, a separate fire tied to the same heat wave wiped out one home and damaged two others in southwest Oklahoma City. Extreme heat can accelerate fire spread and add physical strain on crews working in full gear…