Manage Delivery
Carelessly discarded smoking materials sparked a fire that consumed a deck and destroyed two bedrooms of a Wichita house late Thursday morning, a Wichita fire investigator said.
Three adults escaped injury after the fire ignited around 11 a.m. on the backyard deck of 620 N. Kessler, southeast of Central and West Street. Wichita fire investigator Donny Eckerman said that when fire crews arrived, heavy smoke and flames were visible from the rear.
The fire spread to the house and a boat stored nearby, Eckerman said. It was under control within 15 minutes.
“It was just careless discarding of smoking material and away she went,” Eckerman said. “We had some good south winds, and it just pushed it along.”
The fire – ruled accidental by investigators – caused $60,000 in structural damage to the house and $20,000 to its contents, Eckerman said.
The family received help from the American Red Cross.
