2-year-old boy dies when fire engulfs south Kansas City home
A 2-year-old boy died when fire engulfed a south Kansas City home late Sunday, according to fire officials.
The fire was reported about 11:30 p.m. at a single-story home in the 10200 block of Wheeling Avenue.
Arriving firefighters reported heavy fire and smoke coming from the home, said Deputy Chief Jimmy Walker of the Kansas City Fire Department.
“About half of the house was involved in flames by the time firefighters arrived,” said Walker, who is also the chief fire marshal for the fire department.
The family told firefighters where the boy was in the home. When firefighters found the boy, he was unresponsive.
He was rushed to a hospital where he later died, Walker said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. There were no working smoke detectors in the home, Walker said.
“Working smoke detectors are a must — they increase your chance of surviving a fire by 50 percent,” he said.
The Kansas City Fire Department will provide and install free smoke detectors for Kansas City residents who need them. For more information, residents can call 816-513-4610.
This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 8:43 AM.
