Arson not ruled out as cause of massive Waldo Heights fire that displaced dozens
A national response team with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it will continue to treat the Waldo Heights Apartments fire as a criminal investigation, not ruling out arson.
The ATF response team finished its on-site investigation of the massive Dec. 28 blaze at 8024 Troost Avenue in Kansas City that displaced about 30 families. The final cause of the fire, however, has not yet been determined, said ATF spokesman John Ham.
“This remains a very active investigation and while we have not yet reached a final determination of the cause of the fire, we have been unable to rule out arson as the cause of this fire at this point and so we will continue to treat this as a criminal investigation,” Ham said in a statement Tuesday.
Two people jumped from the third story of the building as the fire erupted late on a cold Monday night just after Christmas, but they were not seriously injured. At least one person was rescued by the fire department. The building was soon declared a complete loss.
The “elite” ATF team of investigators arrived on Dec. 30, Ham said.
As part of the on-site investigation, the ATF conducted almost 100 interviews with apartment residents, firefighters who responded to the blaze, 911 callers and apartment management and staff, Ham said. They also reviewed hours of video footage from witnesses and from security cameras.
ATF trained Accelerant Detection Canines were also used to search for indications of a set fire, he added.
Some of the debris left behind at the scene was sent to the ATF Fire Research Laboratory in Maryland. Ham said these pieces of debris will help determine the final cause of the fire.
The 8000 block of Troost, which has been blocked off for several days, is expected to reopen Tuesday.
On Sunday, agents rescued four cats and a dog from an area of the building they had not been able to access before. Ham on Tuesday said all five animals were turned over to KC Pet Project and have since been reunited with their owners.
Angelika Scharp the owner of the four cats — Lock, Shock, Barrel and Cookie — was among dozens of people who lost their homes in the fire. Scharp, her fiance and her fiance’s brother were put up in a hotel by the Red Cross following the fire.
“It’s going to take us years to recover from this,” Scharp told The Star a couple days after the blaze. “... It’s horrible because for years we’ve been working for this and I mean what did we really work for, you know? It’s all gone. There’s nothing to show for it.”
The ATF is asking anyone with information about this fire to contact the Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS. Kansas City Police and Fire investigators also assisted with the on-site investigation.
