SHAWNEE, Kan. — A fire ripped through the roof of a Shawnee apartment building displacing at least 22 people, including 16 adults and six children.
Early Wednesday morning, a woman smelled smoke at the Hampton Woods Apartment Homes on West 69th Terrace and called 911. The fire marshal said the woman pulled the fire alarm, sounding a siren throughout the entire apartment building, likely saving lives.
"We got reports that people heard crackling. That was fire inside the walls and up above them. So they are very lucky. It's good that they called 911 right away for us to come out," said Shawnee Fire Marshal Corey Sands.
When firefighters arrived they saw smoke. The fire marshal said the fire started in the attic. Sands said firefighters were able to contain the fire to the attic space. The units in the building had very minimal, if any, fire damage; Sands said all of the units in the building were damaged by smoke and water.
Here's video of the Shawnee apartment fire courtesy of Manvir Bhatti. He lives across the sreeet from the bldg. Said he was sweating from the heat of the flames. Fire Dept. says fire looks worse than it was. Flames mostly contained to attic; smoke & water damage to units pic.twitter.com/GnjTRFjW5v
— Charlie Keegan (@CharlieKeegan41) June 20, 2018
No one was injured.
"As soon as I opened the door, smoke just smacked me in the face. I couldn't even see across the hallway because it was so smoky to even knock on my neighbor's door because I couldn't see," said Brenda Anderson, who said a fire alarm woke her up.
Firefighters still need to check the structural integrity of the building but planned to help residents reenter their units to retrieve valuables and assess the damage.
A resident initially reported fire alarms and smoke detectors in the building didn’t go off, but Sands said the smoke detectors were functional. He said they did not go off right away since the fire was in the attic, above and out of the range of smoke detectors. As the fire spread, the smoke activated the detectors.
The building does not have sprinklers since it was built before that became a requirement.
Shawnee Fire Investigators found the fire was accidental, saying it was caused by electrical wiring in the attic.
Fire investigators from the Shawnee Fire Dept are now on scene at the Hampton Woods apt complex to determine what started the fire in the attic of the building that displaced 22 people. pic.twitter.com/EuSO0rLrci
— Charlie Keegan (@CharlieKeegan41) June 20, 2018
The American Red Cross is assisting those displaced. A spokesperson said the organization is helping residents from 13 of the 20 apartment units in the building which caught fire.
The Shawnee Fire Department said the damage estimates from the fire are at $1 million.
A 3-alarm fire at the building in 2012 destroyed one building, but no one was hurt in that fire, either.
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