Fire killed a boy in an Independence rental home. A faulty smoke alarm was partly to blame

A fire investigation into a fatal Independence house fire that killed a 12-year-old boy in August revealed smoke alarms in the house were not functioning, a fact the city was unaware of because the rental property was not registered with the city and had not been inspected.

Firefighters were called on Aug. 17 around 3 a.m. to 1317 E Salisbury Rd., where they found a man standing outside a burning house, spraying the house with a hose.

According to the fire department’s investigation, firefighters struggled to move through what they described as hoarding conditions in in the smoke-filled home, causing near zero visibility. The child was found during a second search, partially under a bed.

He was later declared dead at an area hospital.

The fire was found to have started in the kitchen, but the exact cause was never determined, according to the report.

Smoke detectors were located in the house, but were not functional that night. The reason for the failure was not found, the report stated.

A functioning smoke detector is one of the nine baseline requirements graded by the city in its inspection, according to the Rental Ready program’s ordinance. The Rental Ready program, enacted in Independence in 2017 to ensure healthy and safe homes for rental residents, is supposed to conduct universal inspections twice a year on registered rental properties.

The house was purchased in 2001, and property records show it is owned by All Star Properties #1 LLC.

It had never been licensed with the Rental Ready program, according to Becky Hake, a local realtor and former city contractor who spent nearly a year hunting down non-compliant rental properties for the city before her contract was terminated.

On Thursday, city spokesperson Rebecca Gannon confirmed the house was a rental, and said that city staff wrote tickets for municipal court for that landlord. Further details on what the landlord was cited for and what penalties they may face were not immediately made available.

The city clerk’s office said in an email they have a codes case against the property for having weeds and grass over seven inches tall, a commercial flatbed truck on the property, a car without a current license plate and for having furniture, tires, car parts, tools and trash on the property. According to the clerk’s office, most of the work has been completed, but the tenant and owner have until Tuesday to finish. No tickets had been written for the case in that matter.

According to Gannon, at a city meeting on Aug. 19, two days after the fire, Independence Fire Chief Jimmy Walker “addressed some concerns and laid out an action plan.”

As part of the action plan, the Independence Fire Department is working with the American Red Cross in a challenge to install smoke alarms for free as part of the Red Cross’ Save A Life Initiative. The Independence Fire Department and the city’s communication department made a video for the public on fire safety at home.

Anyone who owns a home in Independence can get two smoke alarms installed by the fire department free of charge, the city said.

Independence officials have said they are in the process of evaluating the city’s Rental Ready program.

This story was originally published October 8, 2024 at 6:00 AM.