Fatal Lee’s Summit Apartment Fire
Posted by GSDispatch Editor in by Lee's Summit Fire Department
On September 2, 2010, at 7:21 a.m. the Lee’s Summit Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire in the apartment building at 713 SE Douglas St. The property owner called 911 and reported a fire in apartment #5.She was at the apartment building on other business when she noticed smoke coming from the apartment. She and another tenant of the building attempted to alert the occupant of the smoke filled apartment through a window with no success, and began alerting the other tenants of the building.
When the fire department arrived, light smoke was coming from window of the two-story, 10-unit apartment building. Tenants of the building advised firefighters that someone may be in the apartment.
Firefighters forced entry into the smoke filled apartment and quickly extinguished a fire in the living room. A search of the apartment found a deceased victim in the bedroom. There was no extension of the fire into the other units of the building. The fire was under control by 8:06 a.m..
The fire was contained to the living room couch with heavy heat and smoke damage throughout the remainder of the apartment. An investigation by the Lee’s Summit Fire Department, Lee’s Summit Police Department and the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office has determined the fire was accidental, originating on or near the couch. The cause is still undetermined. The battery in the apartment’s smoke alarm was disconnected.
Neighbors reported smelling smoke almost two hours previous to the fire department being called.
All but three of the other apartments in the building were able to be reoccupied. Those apartments sustained water damage from a broken boiler pipe in the involved apartment.
