Particle.news

Eighth Fire Since Thanksgiving Strikes Vacant Parade Park Complex as Safety Push Intensifies

City leaders are pressing developers to secure the site pending demolition evaluations tied to a planned affordable-housing rebuild.

Overview

  • Firefighters contained a vacant two-story apartment blaze at Parade Park on Tuesday evening after withdrawing to a defensive attack, and no injuries were reported.
  • This was the eighth fire at the long-vacant complex since Thanksgiving, according to KCMO fire officials and local reports.
  • Two days earlier in Kansas City, Kansas, a floor collapse at a vacant house on Parallel Parkway prompted maydays, with a rapid intervention team rescuing three firefighters and four total injured, two hospitalized for observation.
  • A separate two-alarm apartment fire Monday night on Kansas Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, sent two people to the hospital as crews rescued five residents from the third floor, KCFD said.
  • Developers for the Parade Park project say demolition evaluations will begin next week with a goal of tearing down existing buildings by late winter as officials push for tighter security.