‘Mayday’: Firefighter falls through floor while battling deadly Kansas City, North fire
Firefighters had just entered a home engulfed in flames in Kansas City’s Northland Friday morning when one fell through the floor and disappeared into the basement.
“Hey dispatch, we got a firefighter down in the basement,” a firefighter told dispatch, according audio captured by the website broadcastify.com. “Call a mayday.”
Emergency tones followed with dispatch alerting those at the scene that a firefighter had fallen through a floor and into the basement. Another dispatcher advised that all non-emergency radio traffic had been suspended and a mayday had been declared.
About a minute later, a firefighter told dispatchers: “The firefighter is out of the basement. He’s safe.”
Two older people in the house, however, died in the blaze that swept through the home on Northeast 45th Street near North Agness Avenue in Kansas City, North. Firefighters found them as they battled the blaze.
A neighbor called 911 shortly after 5:30 a.m. saying smoke was coming from the house next door, said Fire Inspector Jason Spreitzer, a spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department.
“Calling party is a neighbor reporting that fire is coming from the front door,” a dispatcher told fire crews as they responded to the blaze. “Two elderly people still inside the house.”
The first crews on the scene told dispatchers there was a fire at the front door that looked as though it had extended up into the attic, according to the radio traffic.
The mayday was declared within minutes after firefighters arrived at the house. Other firefighters were able to rescue the firefighter from the basement using a ladder, Spreitzer said. The firefighter had minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
Firefighters battling the blaze told dispatchers that they couldn’t enter through the front door because of the intensity of the fire. Instead, fire crews entered through the backdoor of the house.
Shortly thereafter, a firefighter told dispatchers that they had found one victim. Firefighters also advised that there was still heavy fire in the basement and that there were holes in the floor.
The fire was brought under control about 6 a.m. Shortly after that, a firefighter told fire command that the second victim had been found in the family room.
Because of the double fatality, fire officials called Kansas City police, along with its bomb and arson unit, to the home to take over the death investigation. Fire investigators with the fire department will assist in the investigation, Spreitzer said.
It was not known if there were working fire detectors inside the home at the time of the blaze, he said.
