One man fights for his life while crews work to clean up after an explosion in Broken Arrow.
Some convicted DUI offenders are getting a break on their sentences.
Find out why in Segment 2.
And will it rain or shine this weekend?
Mike's in with the answer for you. The Night Beat starts now.
Now from the station that works for you. This is the Channel 2 News Night Beat.
A series of explosions tears through a Broken Arrow business.
And tonight the focus is on cleaning up and finding a cause.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Russ McCasky.
I'm Karen Larson.
And you're looking at a live picture right now of the aftermath of Gibson Homes and Construction in Broken Arrow.
Hours ago, we'll show you what it looked like. Channel 2, the first to bring you the pictures.
As at least two explosions sent flames and a thick cloud of black smoke into the air.
The owner was severely burned and nearby businesses had to evacuate.
Fire crews are still on scene and building engineers are on scene as well to secure the site.
Channel 2's Chad and I is there with them. He joins us now live with the latest on the investigation.
Well, Karen, fire investigators are not going to go into that building until the structural engineers have completed their job.
It's a very important job and let me show you why.
The walls of this building are big slabs of concrete that when the building was made, they were pulled up into place with a crane.
Now what's holding those walls together is the roof structure. With that roof on there, it's a pretty sturdy building.
But the fire completely collapsed that roof and with the roof gone, it doesn't take much at all for those walls to come crashing down.
And that's the big challenge here because all the structure that holds the walls together has fallen in.
So before fire investigators can go to work, Antavaros and his crews will have to put steel braces against these walls to prevent a collapse.
Next, they'll use this 90-ton crane to start pulling a mountain of debris out of the building's shell so fire investigators have room to work.
There's a lot of debris. There's vehicles that are inside the building. There's a motor home that's inside the building and we're not for sure what else is in there.
Now the engineers are on site putting those braces up right now. They've got the crane here to start bringing that debris out.
They'll probably get started around 730 Saturday morning. Live in Broken Arrow, Chad and I, Channel 2 works for you.
That's going to be a busy weekend for them. Thanks, Chad.
The explosion and fire created a lot of tense moments. For about an hour, that thick black smoke filled the sky.
Continuing our team coverage of the explosion now, tonight we take you through what happened step by step.
Just before 2 this afternoon, multiple explosions caught everyone by surprise.
I was on the phone and there were two very loud explosions that shook our building.
We were on the phone with eyewitness Pam Huey before firefighters got to the scene. As we talked, you can hear the trucks arriving.
I don't think it was the bank. There's several buildings in here.
By 2 30, the fire still rages out of control but firefighters are attacking the blaze.
By 2 45, the thick black smoke turns white. Crews have turned the tide. And by 3 p.m., they have the fire under control.
Now the Tulsa Fire Department had crews at the scene on standby just in case Broken Arrow firefighters needed help.
Since 9-11, departments like Broken Arrow and Tulsa have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in new equipment and advanced disaster training.
Some of that training involves improved communication and planning for emergencies like this one.
We will continue to do that. Our emergency management system is set up that we've really got to where we can respond and work well together.
After the final report on this fire is complete, the Broken Arrow Fire Department will share it with the other departments to help them prepare for a similar situation.
In other news now, new on the night beat, an 8-year-old boy is in the hospital tonight after being hit by a car.
It happened around 8 near Pine in Columbia. Police say that the boy was hit while playing with water balloons in the middle of the street.
Officials say that the street light was out and the boy was wearing dark clothing. He is expected to be okay.
Turning to weather now, a warm start to our weekend, but how long will it last?
Our meteorologist Mike Anderson is in for Dan tonight with a first look at our early morning weather.
Thank you very much, Karen Boyd. What a beautiful afternoon. Looks like a great evening shaping up.
Temperatures though on the drop. We're looking at 53 degrees. We were in the 70s earlier this afternoon.
That light northeasterly wind continuing to keep things cool throughout the night.
Pressure is rising as high pressure settles in. Humidity is quite low at 54 percent.
Now we're not looking at any rain, but there are some showers and thunder showers out and about southeast of San Antonio.
Heavy showers and thunderstorms in New Mexico. This storm is slowly moving our way.
Will it affect your weekend forecast? Well, we'll talk more about that coming up in just a few minutes.
All right, Mike, thanks. Tulsa police are calling him the Fat Boy Bandit, a serial bank robber who's hit robbed banks all over the state.
And tonight the FBI is raising the stakes, offering $5,000 on top of the current $2,000 reward
for information leading to this man's arrest. Since December, agents believe that he has robbed banks in Oklahoma City,
Ardmore, Tulsa and Sand Springs. And while leaving the last one, he threw an explosive device into bags of shredded paper that caught fire.
If he's willing to create a diversionary tactic by setting a fire where they're in an occupied building,
I think yes, that heightens his danger to society.
If you know anything about this robber, contact the FBI's 24-hour hotline.
That number's 405-290-7770 and you can remain anonymous.
Tracking terror tonight, there's a new terror warning out from the government.
The FBI is cautioning local law enforcement that al-Qaeda affiliates might attack U.S. trains this summer.
That warning cites preliminary intelligence that terrorists could try to hide explosives in luggage and carry-ons.
It also indicates that terrorists might make bombs out of fertilizer and fuel similar to the Oklahoma City bomb.
They do have that capability. It's only a question of whether they have the, I guess, the green light to do it.
Now, the FBI is asking local police departments to step up security.
Week two in the Terry Nichols State murder trial is now wrapped up.
Before breaking for the weekend, the McAllister jury heard testimony from the man who sold Timothy McVeigh the car that he was driving
when McVeigh was arrested.
The tire store manager says that McVeigh disappeared for about 20 minutes during the transaction.
Prosecutors say that's when McVeigh walked to a bus station and called to reserve the rider truck.
Testimony resumes on Monday.
A wildfire in Colorado is raging out of control tonight and it's threatening homes.
A look at efforts to battle the blaze next.
Plus how some DUI offenders are avoiding time behind bars and in segment two why some say that's a good thing.
And getting ready to spend some time outside this weekend.
Mike's in to tell us just how long this nice weather is going to last.
This is the Channel 2 News Nightly.
A grass fire spreads too quickly and catches a pile of tires on fire and that story tops our two view on America tonight.
California fire crews say the pile is about 50 feet deep and consists of tires, plastics and other debris.
In fact, they've had to issue a warning for people who live in the area concerning the unhealthy air.
There are no reports of any injuries.
Fire crews battling a wildfire in Colorado say they just have 15 percent of it contained.
Check out this. The gray smoke could be seen for miles as the blaze swelled to 6,000 acres today.
Flames have already devoured a home and forced dozens of people to evacuate.
So far, no injuries are being reported.
A tour bus hits a tractor trailer along a busy Florida interstate.
After impact, that truck went off into the median.
The tour bus went off the right side of the road rolling down a small hill into some trees.
The bus driver had to be taken to the hospital in serious condition after being thrown from the bus.
The children on board suffered only minor injuries.
And in Orlando, a teen's apparent boredom is drawing some national attention.
You can see the boy yawning behind President Bush.
Well, the teen claims that he couldn't sleep the night before because he was just too excited to see the president.
Whatever the case, he's now creating some headlines of his own.
And you know what his mom's saying. Honey, that's right.
Well, some drunk drivers are not being sent to jail for their crimes.
Next in segment two, a look at what they face instead and if it's working.
Pollen, mold, ragweed, our enemies of spring.
Find out how we can beat them. It's still ahead.
Pollen, of course, you think of spring and you also think of springtime thunderstorms.
It's raining in the forecast. We'll talk all about it coming up next.
It is the only court of its kind in the state and one judge says it's working.
Nonviolent offenders are offered treatment instead of jail time.
If completed, some get the charges against them reduced or dismissed altogether.
Tonight in segment two, Works for You reporter Lori Pritchard looks into the success of Tulsa County's DUI court.
Fred, who didn't want us to use his last name, is a self-described alcoholic.
Also one who's good road drunk.
For years, Fred's picked up aluminum cans to pay for his next drink, drumming up his dinner out of trash bins.
It's hit the Kentucky Fried Chicken Numpsters and Long John Silver. They're the best.
It was a year ago that Fred, who was homeless, put on his cleanest pair of dirty clothes and came to DUI court.
Since then, his clothes are clean, his eyes are bright, and he is sober.
I feel good about myself today.
You know, there's still everyday life that I have to live and I'll probably do a lot of things wrong today.
But I'll do a few things right today also.
As head of the DUI court, Judge Sarah Smith says Fred has done a lot right.
So have many others moving through the program's four-step process.
Smith and a team of counselors, probation officers, and court services workers are there,
cheering them on through sobriety and much more.
We try to help them with every aspect, jobs, family issues, grief issues, treatment for addiction, housing.
All of those things.
But first things first. Participants must get sober and stay sober.
To make sure that happens, there are random and mandatory sobriety checks.
Once they begin working the program and see that everybody's interested in their recovery,
they see that they can make it, they begin to see good things happening around them.
Others aren't so lucky. This court is no free ride.
You have to want to stop drinking and if you don't, you're headed to jail.
I have sent my fair share of people to prison.
At the same time, I have had the wonderful experience of graduating a number of people from this program
who have tools to help them in the event that they relapse.
An alcoholic for more than 50 years, Fred has had his fair share of relapses.
But with the help of this program, he's lived through the death of his wife without a drink.
I don't know why it's working, but I know one thing.
Whatever it is that I'm doing, I'm going to keep doing it today and at least for the next 24 hours.
And for the next 24 hours, Fred has a roof over his head, money in his wallet, and a meal to eat that won't come from a dumpster.
Lori Pritchard, Channel 2 Works for You.
Now, DUI court began three years ago. Since then, at least 65 people have graduated from the program.
And right now, there are 91 participants going through the four-step process.
There are at least 60 more waiting to get in.
But the possibility of adding more people to that program is in question.
Funding could be cut due to state budget problems.
And Judge Smith says that she expects to start turning people away as early as the fall.
We will, of course, continue to follow this story.
A lot of positive results.
Well, Governor Henry today kicked off a statewide severe weather preparedness campaign.
The state's working with McDonald's restaurants for McReady, Oklahoma.
Brochures will be available at restaurants to help families prepare for emergencies and be aware of severe weather.
And we are, of course, heading into severe weather season, but it sure doesn't look like it right now.
No, beautiful out there.
Well, he's great. And, of course, the Channel 2 Early Warning Storm Team is doing our part on keeping people aware by the storm tours every Tuesday night for four weeks.
Next one's Jinx.
Jinx, Tuesday night at 7 o'clock. Looking forward to that one. That one should be great.
We'll be there.
And then Skytuck the next week after that.
But as we said, the sunshine has been shining the last couple of days. We're enjoying some lovely weather.
Let's take a look back at how our Friday will turn out.
It started out at 40 this morning, climbed up to 71 degrees.
A great day today. Normal's 45 and 68. Record low of 22. You can still see some freezing temperatures this time of year.
Record low set back in 1936. No rainfall, of course, here in northeastern Oklahoma.
Now, we are looking at some thin high clouds from Tulsa south and westward. With those clouds, it is a little bit warmer in Oklahoma City.
There at 60 degrees. We've already dropped down to 50 here in Tulsa. It's down to 43 in Bartlesville, 47 degrees over in Fayetteville.
Temperatures up to our northeast with the clear skies will be dropping into the 30s tonight.
37 in Bartlesville, 39 in Pryor. Down to our south, though, low to mid 40s expected.
We'll start tomorrow with a light north wind. Winds will be picking up, though, throughout the day.
Tomorrow afternoon at about 8 to 18 miles an hour. That should keep temperatures in the 60s up to our north.
66 in Ponca City, 68 degrees in Stillwater. Low 70s down to our south.
Here's a look at our regional radar and satellite picture from yesterday evening, about 24 hours ago, showing clear skies across Oklahoma.
Sort of been stuck between two storm systems, one affecting the east coast and one affecting the west.
And you can see out to our west showers and thunderstorms. Boy, they really kicked in during the afternoon and evening hours down to our southwest.
In fact, flood warnings were issued around Kiowa County. Showers and thunderstorms moving across Texas back into the storm system.
So all of these showers and thundershowers are actually moving away from Oklahoma.
We are seeing a few high clouds right now across the Sooner State.
Now, our futurecast clearly showing all of the showers and thunderstorms moving on back to the west.
So we're going to stay clear here in northeastern Oklahoma tonight. Plenty of sunshine expected during the day tomorrow.
Could be rather stormy if you're heading down to San Antonio during tomorrow.
But again, all of the rain will stay down to our south and west.
And this storm system, you can see the heaviest rains well down into the desert southwest will be our next weathermaker.
It will stay out to our west during the weekend and then gradually move eastward.
So it does look like it will bring us at least a chance of rain beginning late Monday.
Another storm system continuing up across the northeast.
We're right in between. So it looks like some very pretty weather shaping up.
In fact, tomorrow morning we'll start out with clear skies, 41 degrees with a light north wind.
So a cool crisp start. Sixty three, though, at lunchtime, a few high clouds coming in. Sixty nine degrees.
Again, north winds picking up a bit at eight to 18 miles an hour.
Sundown at six forty eight. But by Sunday, sundown will be at seven forty eight because we are changing an hour ahead.
Of course, we're changing the daylight savings time Saturday night.
Spring forward one hour Sunday, 40 in the morning, a cool morning, a mild afternoon.
It's definitely going to be chilly Monday morning, 37 degrees with clear skies early, then increasing clouds during the afternoon.
A slight chance of a few showers coming in Monday afternoon.
Better chance of showers and thunderstorms coming in Tuesday as that next storm out west heads our way.
That will continue to bring us to the slight chance of rain on into Wednesday and then back up into the 70s by early next week.
Kind of want to bottle up what we had today. No wind, sunshine. It is very nice.
Weekend's looking good, too. We'll enjoy it.
Thanks, Mike. Thanks. Well, healthy living tonight and they're making some people miserable.
But there are ways to beat spring allergies. Allergies say try to avoid triggers like pollen,
and that means staying indoors during the early morning and late afternoon when the pollen count is high.
Also keep those windows closed. A new study finds preschoolers are among the fastest growing group of antidepressant users in the country.
The study compared two million prescription claim records from pediatric patients between 1998 and 2002.
It found a 49 percent increase in antidepressant prescriptions.
Rates doubled in preschool girls and rose 63 percent for preschool boys.
OSU hits the court tomorrow night against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and our governor has made a friendly wager with Georgia's governor.
Governor Henry is betting that Oklahoma beef against Georgia peaches that OSU will win,
and I think that'll make the victory taste a little sweeter.
I've got a great recipe for peach pie. Oh, really? Yes.
I'm going to have to cook some up if OSU wins. God will make it for you.
Dibble of Big Al is in San Antonio, of course, for the big game tomorrow night, and we're going to have a report from him.
Also coming up, we'll have a look at the other game tomorrow. Marty's in Next for Sports.
By this time tomorrow, OSU will either be playing for a national championship or talking about what might have been.
Let's hope it's the former, not the latter. Big Al Jerkins is with the Cowboys in San Antonio.
And Al, Cowboys feel pretty confident right now.
Yeah, they do a lot more confident than the folks at the Alamo in 1836, which, by the way, is just a few blocks from here.
But OSU fans are hoping that the Pokes have better luck here in San Antonio than did Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie in 1836.
And there is one young OSU fan, at least one, who is hoping the OSU general, Eddie Sutton, will have OSU fans remembering the wins at the Alamo Dome.
Oklahoma State Cowboys.
I don't know if this is such a good thing for Oklahoma State fans, but even the Alamo tour guide wants the Pokes to win.
I got an Oklahoma State t-shirt at home. My wife works at one of the local department stores, and I said, give me an OSU shirt.
Eddie Sutton, he's a great coach. He's a great coach. He's one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history.
And at age 68, Eddie Sutton is showing more smug. Now that he's reached the final four, nice dance steps.
From a coaching standpoint, it's been a special year to have coached this group of young men.
And his young fans want to see Grandpa win the big one, too. It's obvious the grandkids keep a close eye on Pops. Even the scowl gets imitated.
I do it like this.
Which leads us to another subject. Does the head coach want to spend more time with his grandkids? Will he retire if he wins it all? His assistant coach thinks that would be perfect.
If it was me, I would probably go out that way. That means you won your last game. But I don't think that he thinks that way. I think that he'll probably be back, and that's good.
I think whatever he wants to do, everybody in our family is going to be supportive of that.
But first things first. OSU must get past Georgia Tech tomorrow. A team that has already beaten the other two Final Four teams, Duke and UConn.
Tech also beat Kansas to get to San Antonio.
The game tomorrow, I think the two teams are very evenly matched. The philosophy on both programs is pretty much the same. And it should be a terrific ballgame.
Luck plays a part in it. It's got to be your day, so to speak. But I like our ballclub a lot.
Despite the rains, OSU fans gathered at the San Antonio Riverwalk, and all in orange have confidence in the head coach.
Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Go guys! How could you not expect the guy who dances to the William Tell Overture to not win a Final Four game? Marty, it's all yours, my friend.
I don't know if I can match that intensity, that's for sure. I'm not nearly that limber. But thank you very much, Al.
We look forward to more from you tomorrow, and maybe some more running man. Who knows? All right, Al, thanks a lot.
Here's how it sets up for tomorrow. Cowboys and Yellow Jackets in the early game. Then Duke and Connecticut come up later at night.
You see the odds there. UConn favored by 2, and OSU a 5.5 point favorite.
All right, UConn takes on Duke tomorrow in the second game, as we mentioned. And everyone wants to know if the big fella will be ready to go.
Emeka Okafor was at practice with the team today. He suffered a stinger in the Elite Eight game, and then tweaked that same injury this week in practice just before coming to the tournament in San Antonio.
But he says he's good enough to go tomorrow.
How do you feel? Feel good. Feel good. Ready to go 100 percent? 100 percent, full throttle, all of that.
What's in the water down there in San Antonio? Has everybody all pumped up? I don't know. It's got some type of additive to it that makes you dance a lot.
I don't know what it is. Final Four fever. We'll be right back.
Our time's up. You have a terrific weekend. Good night.