Calvary Baptist encourages assistance for Hull family

Calvary Baptist Church of Pawhuska is encouraging community generosity toward a local family that lost its belongings and the life of a 14-year-old boy in a house fire last Friday.

The fire took place at the Hull family home, at 17th Street and Bighill Avenue. Fire Chief Gip Allen said the fire call came in at 4:15 p.m. Friday, and firefighters were on the scene until about 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said. Triston Hull, 14, died and Allen said the cause of death had not been determined, with a medical examiner’s report pending.

Allen explained that Pawhuska firefighters had a demanding work load late Friday and early Saturday, as they received a call at 2 a.m. Saturday about a fire at a vacant home at 12th and Boundary. The structure was pretty much a total loss, and firefighters finished their work at that location about 7 a.m. Saturday, he said.

In the aftermath of the fire at 17th and Bighill, Calvary Baptist Church posted an appeal on the Pawhuska Community Watch Page, on Facebook, on behalf of the Hulls. The church explained it had set up a relief fund for the family.

“All donations will go directly to Jack, Misty and Joseph Hull, allowing them to use money in a way that is most useful to them,” the church said in its Community Watch Page post. In addition to donations, the church said it would help to deliver cards and letters of condolence. The address to which condolences and donations may be sent is: Calvary Baptist Church, 620 E. 15th Street, Pawhuska, OK 74056.

Persons interested in helping the Hulls can also contact Pastor Caleb Dunn at 918-855-6181.

“He was a great young man,” Dunn said of 14-year-old Triston, who was an eighth-grader. “He will be missed by many.”

In the current circumstances, with the COVID-19 pandemic making large public gatherings problematic, Dunn said service arrangements for Triston Hull are still pending.

Pawhuska Public Schools on Monday posted on its Facebook page a letter to parents and guardians, informing them of Triston’s death. The school district also provided parents and guardians with advice about talking with children in regard to the tragic loss of life.