UPS packages bound for Tulsa go up in flames

Heads-up online shopper: If you were expecting that rare Hello Kitty toilet brush you found on eBay to be delivered by UPS today, we may have bad news for you and more than 1,100 other Oklahomans.

A fire yesterday at a UPS warehouse in Oklahoma City destroyed thousands of packages that were destined to arrive in Tulsa.

It seems that an employee who was unloading a truck at the warehouse dropped a package and, instead of fishing for a flashlight to help him find it he grabbed what was most handy: his lighter.

When he located the package, he leaned down to pick it up.

That’s when he smelled alcohol and the next thing he knew, the package was in flames.

Luckily, no one was hurt in the fire, but firefighters tell KFOR that it did about $150,000 worth of damage.

A UPS spokesman says they are now contacting the intended recipients to let them know their packages are not going to be delivered.

UPS says the company’s insurance will pay to replace the burned parcels, up to $100 per package unless a higher amount was declared at the time of shipping.