Teen killed, others hurt after fire breaks out in Kansas City, Kansas, apartment
A 15-year-old boy died, and three other people, including a firefighter, were treated at a hospital after a fire broke out in an apartment last week in Kansas City, Kansas, the city’s fire marshal said Tuesday.
Firefighters responded to the fire shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday at an apartment in the College Park Townhomes complex in the 900 block of North 71st Street.
The first firefighters, who arrived within five minutes, reported seeing smoke coming from the upper windows of the apartment, according to Fire Marshal John Droppelmann with the Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department. They were told that someone could still be inside.
Firefighters entered the apartment and found the teen unresponsive on the second floor of the apartment. Firefighters pulled him from the building and began providing advanced life support treatment. The teen was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 7:40 p.m.
Fire crews searched the remaining unit and adjoining apartments, but did not locate any other victims inside.
One person was taken to the hospital for treatment of cuts sustained from breaking a window to help another person who had been trapped inside an apartment. The person who had been trapped was also taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
During search and rescue operations, one firefighter was treated and then taken to a hospital for heat exhaustion. Fire crews brought the fire under control about 6:55 p.m.
The cause and origin of the fire are under investigation by the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department’s fire investigations unit.
