Firefighters battle blaze at abandoned warehouse in Kansas City, Kansas
Firefighters battled a blaze Friday afternoon at an abandoned warehouse in Kansas City, Kansas, according to fire officials.
A passerby noticed the building at 451 S. 26th Street was on fire and called 911 shortly after 11:15 a.m., said Battalion Chief Scott Schaunaman, a spokesman for the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department.
“When crews arrived, they reported heavy smoke and fire and they realized that it was going to be a defensive fire attack from the beginning,” he said. “It’s a large concrete structure with a heavy timber roof construction. What was actually on fire was the roof.”
Part of the roof had collapsed before firefighters arrived, Schaunaman said.
“I talked to the owner and it’s probably been vacant since maybe the 1960s is what they’re guessing,” he said. “Sot it’s been empty for quite some time.”
The owner told Schaunaman that it was his understanding that the building initially was designed to make ice blocks for the railroad back in the 1920s.
The building is listed as abandoned and has excessive roof damage that left the building at salvage value, according Wyandotte County appraisal records. The 2020 appraised value was a total of $244,290, of which only $6,860 was for the building, according to the records.
The building had been damaged by fire 10 years ago, but details of that fire were not available.
Fighting the fire was challenging in part because fire crews had to lay out 3,500 feet of five-inch hose to supply water to their aerial fire trucks.
“The first fire hydrant didn’t have enough water pressure for two aerials so in order to get to another hydrant, we had to shut down a railroad track with the rail yard so we could stretch some hose across it,” Schaunaman said.
No injuries were reported. While firefighters had knocked down and contained the fire inside the concrete walls of the building, it was expected to smolder for some time because of the heavy timber roof.
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 1:11 PM.
