‘I Never Saw That Coming’: Stillwater residents return to wildfire devastation

When people in Stillwater evacuated their homes on Friday afternoon, they left thinking the wildfire would only burn the pastures and fields nearby, not their homes.

"I just never saw that one coming," said Kelly Cox, who lives off of Rock Hollow Street.

Cox has lived in his home for 24 years. He and his wife raised their kids there and on Saturday morning, stood in shock as they looked at everything burned down.

"It’s just a lot of mush right now," said Cox. "That’s a technical word for it I believe."

Down the street, Jenny Power looks at her home that she and her husband bought two years ago. They moved to Oklahoma from California and didn't think wildfires would be a threat here.

 "We were not sure about tornadoes," Power said. "Really concerned about them but wildfires, no, no."

She said this as she stood in front of her burned down home. Burned with it are the new appliances that had been delivered just before they evacuated around 2:30 Friday afternoon.

Power took her purse, her dog, and her car, thinking she'd be back soon. It didn't even occur to her to bring anything more, not even her computer.

"I’m not fully feeling this right now," she said. "It’s too soon."

Around the corner on Stonybrook Street, Maddie Novotny has put on heavy duty boots and gloves to try to find something for her grandmother to save.

"So I live right there," she said pointing. "The house directly next door, and the fire is all the way up until the brick of my house and then it stopped."

But Novotny's grandparents' home burned down, leaving only the flag in the front yard untouched.

"It's a true representation of my grandpa," she said. "He was in the military for a long time. He was a colonel in the army. And he always had that flag up he has since I’ve been born."

Her grandparents traveled all around in the military and collected things along the way. As Novotny sifts through the rubble with her aunt, they find a few teacups from Germany, but not much else.

"A Stanley!" Novotny laughs, as she pulls it from the burned dishwasher. The laughter continues as they find several intact rooster decorations.

"Nana was a rooster gal," Novotny said, smiling.

As they continue to search for things worth saving, her grandparents drive up, about to see the home for the first time. They almost didn't leave.

"They were planning on staying," she said. "They didn’t think we were in danger. We told my stubborn grandpa that we’re goin’ grab your stuff, and we’re leaving so we’re glad we did."