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Blue Springs, MO —
It wasn’t your typical Fourth of July.
At least not for the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District.
The district recorded 18 alarms associated with fireworks, Ed Saffell, assistant fire chief, said on Thursday.
“Typically we don’t have many – if at all,” he said.
Sure, he said, there are minor calls regarding fireworks incidents during a typical year, but the district on Wednesday responded to one major fire that destroyed a building that was part of an apartment complex, displacing 20 families; to three additional structure fires, a couple brush and grass fires and other minor calls associated with fireworks.
Saffell said fire officials determined Thursday that the cause of the fire at Autumn Place Apartment Homes, which is just off Woods Chapel Road, will remain unknown. Saffell said preliminary findings had shown that it may have started on a deck, but officials later discovered there was no electricity on or near the deck and that there were no grills.
“With that, it may have been fireworks related or smoking related,” Saffell said.
With drought conditions and extreme heat battering the Midwest, departments were up and running nearly all day.
“Most fire departments in the area were very busy yesterday,” Saffell said.
Saffell said the district handled five fireworks related injuries within the district, one of which were serious injuries to a 10-year-old boy.
In Independence, firefighters responded to about 75 calls related to fireworks – a high number, according to Mark Carrick, an assistant fire chief.
“That’s a pretty high number for us,” Carrick said Thursday. “You almost had to expect it.”
The department typically responds to about 50 fireworks calls on July 4, he said.
Most concerning for Independence firefighters was a new kind of fireworks that provided a troublesome challenge: the luminary devices that, once airborne, do not explode or disintegrate immediately.
“They go floating and you don’t know where it’s going to land – on someone’s house, a tree, a car,” Carrick said, adding that he feels both Independence and other cities need to look into safety issues concerning the device for upcoming holidays.
Saffell said earlier this week that fire officials encouraged vendors throughout Blue Springs not to sell the devices. He said most complied.
Carrick said there were no significant fires in Independence that resulted in destroyed homes or major injuries.
Independence, too, assisted CJC with their apartment building fire when it struck at about 5:30 p.m. He said firefighters were able to get it under control quickly, but the heat was hard on those who worked it.
It wasn’t your typical Fourth of July.
At least not for the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District.
The district recorded 18 alarms associated with fireworks, Ed Saffell, assistant fire chief, said on Thursday.
“Typically we don’t have many – if at all,” he said.
Sure, he said, there are minor calls regarding fireworks incidents during a typical year, but the district on Wednesday responded to one major fire that destroyed a building that was part of an apartment complex, displacing 20 families; to three additional structure fires, a couple brush and grass fires and other minor calls associated with fireworks.
Saffell said fire officials determined Thursday that the cause of the fire at Autumn Place Apartment Homes, which is just off Woods Chapel Road, will remain unknown. Saffell said preliminary findings had shown that it may have started on a deck, but officials later discovered there was no electricity on or near the deck and that there were no grills.
“With that, it may have been fireworks related or smoking related,” Saffell said.
With drought conditions and extreme heat battering the Midwest, departments were up and running nearly all day.
“Most fire departments in the area were very busy yesterday,” Saffell said.
Saffell said the district handled five fireworks related injuries within the district, one of which were serious injuries to a 10-year-old boy.
In Independence, firefighters responded to about 75 calls related to fireworks – a high number, according to Mark Carrick, an assistant fire chief.
“That’s a pretty high number for us,” Carrick said Thursday. “You almost had to expect it.”
The department typically responds to about 50 fireworks calls on July 4, he said.
Most concerning for Independence firefighters was a new kind of fireworks that provided a troublesome challenge: the luminary devices that, once airborne, do not explode or disintegrate immediately.
“They go floating and you don’t know where it’s going to land – on someone’s house, a tree, a car,” Carrick said, adding that he feels both Independence and other cities need to look into safety issues concerning the device for upcoming holidays.
Saffell said earlier this week that fire officials encouraged vendors throughout Blue Springs not to sell the devices. He said most complied.
Carrick said there were no significant fires in Independence that resulted in destroyed homes or major injuries.
Independence, too, assisted CJC with their apartment building fire when it struck at about 5:30 p.m. He said firefighters were able to get it under control quickly, but the heat was hard on those who worked it.
“We were switching guys out pretty fast due to the heat,” he said.
There were no injuries to either residents of the complex or the firefighters who fought the fire, though some were treated for smoke inhalation, Carrick said.
At Fort Osage Fire Protection District, Chief John Yocum said he rehired additional staff for a 24-hour period based on anticipated calls.
“We hired them temporarily for what we thought would be an increase in calls, and that’s what happened,” Yocum said. “It was needed.”
For the most part, Fort Osage provided mutual aid to various departments, including CJC in their apartment building blaze.
“It worked well,” Yocum said of the mutual aid.
