Huge CityPlace fire a year ago held lessons for Overland Park
One year ago, welding torch sparks turned the CityPlace construction site in Overland Park into an inferno, destroying two apartment buildings and sending burning embers onto the roofs of nearby homes.
In the ensuing 12 months, there’s been much progress and reconstruction, but the March 20 fire hasn’t faded from memory.
“We are learning from this fire,” Overland Park Fire Department spokesman Jason Rhodes said in a statement. “Our fire department and our city are looking for ways to prevent anything like this from occurring in the future.”
The builders of CityPlace, a large mixed-use development near College Boulevard and U.S. 69, changed the way they did some of their work.
The “hot work” welding activity that was blamed for starting the fire is now done off-site. Completed pieces are brought to the job site for installation.
The fire damaged 25 nearby residences, including 14 units that were destroyed or deemed uninhabitable by Overland Park city officials. It also damaged a city fire truck and other smaller fire equipment.
Block Real Estate Services, the developer of the site, created a relief fund that has raised $88,000. Most of that money was distributed by the Salvation Army to families affected by the fire for expenses not covered by insurance.
Block also presented a $16,000 check to reimburse the city for the damaged fire equipment.
"Not a day has gone by in the past year that I haven't thought about those impacted by the fires," Ken Block, managing principal with Block Real Estate Services, said Tuesday in a statement.
"I am grateful for all of those who helped in the days, weeks and months following the fires. Our community is blessed with skilled first responders. I believe their actions a year ago were nothing short of heroic."
The nearby neighborhood has largely rebounded, said Overland Park Planning and Development Director Jack Messer.
“The recovery by homeowners affected by the 2017 CityPlace fire has been a testament to their perseverance,” he said in a statement.
“As of March 12, all but two properties have been repaired and cleared for occupancy. We expect the remaining two to be in that condition shortly. There were some structures that were removed, and those sites are available for rebuilding, but no new activity has occurred at this time.”
The two destroyed apartment buildings have been rebuilt and are expected to be completed in August and September.
This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Huge CityPlace fire a year ago held lessons for Overland Park."