KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Firefighters responded Wednesday to a fire at a Kansas City, Missouri, apartment complex for the second night in a row.
Some residents, who escaped dealing with serious damage from a fire the night before, weren't so lucky the second time around.
Crews answered a call around 9:35 p.m. at Willow Creek Apartments, 119 W. 99th Terrace, and reported smoke showing upon arrival. 41 Action News cameras captured flames coming out of the roof.
Three ambulances were on scene, but the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department did not report any injuries.
“My daughter and her boyfriend went for a walk and said you could still see smoke coming out of the side of the buildings and that it was all black and you could hear the alarm in the building going off,” said Sheila Jones, a witness.
Assistant Fire Chief Jimmy Walker said Thursday that it was too soon to say whether the two fires were related.
“I can't even speculate to begin, there are so many different possibilities,” Walker said.
Wednesday’s fire damaged several units, including one woman whose unit was also damaged Tuesday.
“I moved in three days ago. It was my first night sleeping in the apartment the night before, now everything I own is gone,” said Hannah Scott, who lives there with her mom and twin sister.
The previous night’s fire was a two-alarm fire that was found to have started in a second-floor apartment. Crews had to help several residents who were on their balconies to safety.
A KCFD spokesman told 41 Action News the Tuesday night fire started due to a defective kitchen appliance.
On Friday, Walker said the cause of the second fire will be listed as undetermined. He said there was too much damage to determine a cause.
After watching part of their apartment building catch fire Tuesday, neighbors Kathy Denning and Nancy Larbi assumed they were in the clear.
“I got some work clothes, some makeup and, of course, it's total smoke damage, but everything was still intact,” Denning said.
Things changed Wednesday after the second fire broke out.
“I was allowed in the building for five minutes,” Larbi said. “Ridiculously, I thought I was coming back, so we took out all the frozen food in the refrigerator. I didn’t take the family heirlooms. My daughter lost every childhood memory she had. It was in the apartment.”
Both women have lived at the complex, where the roof is gone and the contents of their apartments is destroyed, for more than 15 years.
“I was fine yesterday, because I hadn’t lost all my mom's art, all my mom’s beautiful furniture — family heirlooms, art, really nice art,” Denning said.
Crews returned to the complex around 5:45 a.m. on Thursday to check out reports of the building catching fire for a third time, but they did not activate their lights or sirens and were on scene for less than an hour.
The apartment company, Landmark Realty, is offering to transfer displaced residents to one of its sister properties or refund rent payments for March.
