A family of four, including two young children, were killed Wednesday when a fire swept through an apartment complex in Missouri.
The fire was reported around 6am at the Indy Ridge Apartments in Independence, Kansas City, during freezing temperatures.
The victims, including children ages three and eight, were found after the flames were extinguished, Independence Fire Chief Jimmy Walker said during a news conference.
‘It is a sad day for the community,’ Walker said. ‘We will pull together.’
Walker said the fire destroyed two dozen units, with fire crews spending four hours at the complex battling the blaze and putting out hotspots with winds gusting at speeds up to 24mph and temperatures in the 20s.
The fire chief declined to release the names of the victims, saying their relatives are still being notified. He added that 32 others were displaced and two firefighters also suffered burns.
The Independence Fire Department confirmed Wednesday night that the deadly apartment fire started because of a stovetop left unattended.
The tenant tried to ‘start something on the stove top, the smoke detector activated, and they went back in, attempted to use the extinguisher, and then left the left the apartment,’ it said.
The inferno quickly spread to other parts of the complex, including to the family’s unit, where they were trapped inside according to the fire department.
‘Our crews upon arrival had heavy fire on the second and third floor and through the roof,’ Walker added.
The fire crews then noticed that the building was beginning to crumble.
‘That’s the only reason we pulled out is because we actually had guys inside and gals inside when the building started to collapse,’ Walker said.
Carissa Schulke told The Kansas City Star that she was awakened by the sounds of popping before hearing sirens.
‘All of a sudden, they didn´t even knock on my door, they just busted in, “Hey you need to get out, you need to get out”,’ Schulke recalled, as she stood outside in the cold with her dog shivering while firefighters battled the blaze.
Another witness who lives in the complex told FOX4 on Wednesday: ‘I seen flames there. I mean, I don’t know what to say. It’s in flames. It was horrible for sure.’
Tim Gardner said the building is generally quiet, with the residents typically keeping to themselves, but that his neighbors were friendly and that Indy Ridge Apartments is a good place to live.
He said that having four people lose their lives in the tragedy is weighing on him.
‘Oh, my God, yes. That was horrible, very horrible,’ Gardner said.
‘That is very emotional, and I feel bad for their families and everything. So, yeah, it was just a horrible thing this morning, man and I pray for everybody involved.’
Following the blaze, Walker said there are lessons for everyone to learn about fire safety.
‘We need to make sure that we never leave cooking unattended, okay? That’s how quickly things can escalate. As you can see in this instance, that when we leave cooking unattended, catastrophe can happen,’ he said.
He mentioned that if a fire starts in an apartment, closing the door can help contain the fire until crews arrive.
‘It’s unfortunate. We have to talk to the family of someone who’s deceased in a structure fire and let them know that this happens. I don’t wish it on anybody,’ Walker added.
‘I don’t wish it on my crews who had to go in and find them. And I was with them. And I don’t wish that on anybody. It’s a horrific scene.’
