“Fighting More Than Fire” explores the history of Black firefighters in Tulsa, from breaking racial barriers to the challenges and triumphs that shaped generations of service

By Bella Casey
Tulsa World

TULSA, Okla. — Heather Daniels frantically fought to escape her burning, overturned car when the elbow of an off-duty firefighter smashed through her window and dragged her free three decades ago. The same man even returned to her mangled vehicle to retrieve her purse.

The mother of three couldn’t get the name of her “guardian angel” before he left the scene on North Peoria Avenue, so she contacted the local newspaper to thank him. That’s not something James “Big Daddy” Walker was used to.

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He was used to being spit on and being called slurs. That was sometimes part of his job as a Black firefighter, he explained in a newly debuted documentary.

Walker’s story is one of many featured in “Fighting More Than Fire,” a film about the history of Black Tulsa firefighters. Tulsa filmmaker Keith “Sneak” Daniels, son of Heather Daniels, said Walker’s heroic efforts inspired him to share the relatively untold story of Tulsa’s rich Black firefighting history through an 83-minute documentary.

He hosted a film Q&A session Friday evening at the Tulsa Fire Museum to introduce the film to local viewers.

“Being a Black firefighter, you have to fight even more than just fire or the calls that you have,” Keith Daniels told the Tulsa World. “(There) is going to be an internal battle that you’re going to have to overcome and a cultural battle just to succeed in this profession.”

It was a topic that needed to be explored, Daniels said, and nobody had done it. And it fits right into the brand he’s trying to build as a filmmaker and director.

He scribbled the words “Blackness,” “community” and “love” on a piece of paper amid a filmmaking “identity crisis” a few years ago, then he never saw the note again. He rarely does once he jots down an idea.

Tulsa’s Black firefighting history fit his criteria.

He used a web of sources to explain how the first half-dozen Black firefighters, who Tulsa Fire Department officials hired in 1956, braved Jim Crow-era racism and interdepartmental discrimination. He also spoke with current and former Black firefighters who shared the struggles and triumphs of their careers.

Former Tulsa Fire Department Capt. Renaldo Works knew a tough reality existed for those who came before him, but it wasn’t one he faced during his 34-year career.

He credited Merle Stripling, one of the first six Black Tulsa firefighters, for mentoring and paving the way for him. Works remembers Stripling sharing stories of eating separately from white firefighters and sleeping in chairs at the station because he didn’t receive a bed.

“Those guys that came before me, they made my path a little easier,” said Works, who was also featured in Daniels’ film.

Works attended the Friday Q&A session alongside current and former members of the Tulsa Fire Department.

The session, which aligned with the Juneteenth holiday, was an especially meaningful chance to gather at the museum and reflect on department history, Tulsa Fire Chief Michael Baker said in a written statement.

“We are grateful to Keith Daniels for preserving these stories and helping ensure that future generations understand both the challenges and the progress that have defined our journey as a department and as a community,” he stated.

For now, the film is only available for private viewing and at film festivals. Daniels said he hopes to find a way to release it for public viewing next year.

“I’m telling something that’s never been told before,” he said. “I think that’s what’s really special.”

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