Blaze destroys hundreds of flags stored in American Legion sheds
TULSA — An early morning fire that destroyed two American Legion sheds also claimed hundreds of U.S. flags used to decorate the graves of military veterans each Memorial Day.
The fire started inside a shed behind the American Legion Post 1, 1120 E Eighth St., around 4:45 a.m. Monday and spread into an adjacent shed, leaving the first razed and the second with extensive damage, Tulsa Fire Department Capt. Stan May said. Both will need to be replaced.
The post’s commander, Gary Wall, said he was alerted to the situation shortly before 7 a.m. and arrived to find almost nothing salvageable.
Among the items being stored in the sheds were between 400 and 500 American flags the post uses to decorate veterans’ graves on Memorial Day. The charred remains of several flags could be seen in the still-standing shed. Wall found no trace of the flags that were in the other.
Every Memorial Day, members of the American Legion place the small flags on the graves of U.S. veterans at the Oaklawn Cemetery, located next to Post 1, and at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5111 S Memorial Drive, where the group hosts an annual ceremony. At the end of the day, the flags are picked up and returned to the sheds.
“It’s what that we use in memorializing our veterans that have paid the ultimate price,” Wall said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Wall said the sheds and surrounding area are often targeted by burglars and vandals, the latest incident happening less than two weeks ago. Nothing appeared to have been stolen that time, he said, but somebody tore a hole into the side of a shed.
A few months ago, a school in central Oklahoma donated a large bell weighing hundreds of pounds to the American Legion. It had only been there a few days before someone swiped it, Wall said. A trailer and a smoker also have been stolen from the site, he said.
It’s too early to leap to conclusions about what caused the shed fires, but Wall said arson wouldn’t surprise him. The power to the sheds has been disconnected for years, eliminating the possibility of an electrical fire.
“I don’t see any reason for it to self-combust. If this was a case of arson, it just hurts me that people would mess with an organization such as this,” Wall said. “I realize there’s good and bad among us, and these things happen. We’ll just do what we do and carry on.”
Most of the now-ruined flags have been used since Post 1 received a large donation about 20 years ago. Some had been replaced over time, Wall said, but most were used year-to-year during those two decades.
American Legion members are planning an emergency flag retirement ceremony Tuesday afternoon before starting their executive board and general meeting. These ceremonies are typically held once a year for flags taken out of service.
“Flags are donated to us throughout the year that become too weather-torn and faded to be serviceable,” Wall said. “We fold them, catalog them and store them until Flag Day, and we usually get a permit from the city to fire up a burn pit. We have a proper ceremony, speak to the crowd and then we ceremonially (retire) those flags by burning.”
In addition to the flags and sheds needing replaced, equipment and dishes were lost in the fire as well as some memorabilia from the Forty and Eight, another veterans organization whose local chapter has disbanded. Propane tanks also were stored in at least one of the sheds. An American Legion trailer parked in front of the storage buildings received significant damage.
Wall said the post is working on a more complete list of what was lost and added that it will take awhile to estimate the property costs.
Anyone willing to donate to the rebuilding process can contact the nonprofit organization at (918) 584-4274.