Kansas City firefighters battle blaze in vacant building, evacuate crews before collapse
Kansas City firefighters avoided injury while fighting a blaze burning in a vacant building Thursday when they evacuated crews before a roof collapse, officials said.
The Kansas City Fire Department responded around 11 a.m. to fight the vacant building fire in east Kansas City.
When firefighters arrived, they saw heavy smoke in the 5100 block of E. 27 Street, said KCFD Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins in a news release.
After a few minutes, the incident commander made the choice to evacuate the building of firefighters and conduct defensive operations from outside, Hopkins said.
Five to ten minutes after firefighters were evacuated, the whole roof collapsed on the west side of the building, Hopkins said. No one was injured, and the fire was under control before noon.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
