Body found after two homes destroyed in three-alarm fire near downtown
A body was found after a three-alarm fire destroyed two homes Saturday night near downtown.
Wichita fire Battalion Chief Lane Pearman says multiple 911 calls came in around 9:50 p.m. of two houses on fire in the 800 block of N. Market, near Broadway and Murdock.
Arriving fire units upgraded the fire to a second alarm and shortly after to a three alarm due to the size of the fire.
“This was a very fast moving, intense fire. . . which brought somewhere in the realm of 50 to 60 firefighters,” Pearman said. Firefighters worked for the next 45 minutes to extinguish the flames.
Search teams later entered both homes and found one person dead in the single-story home next to the two-story home. The identity of the person has not been released, Pearman said.
Fire investigators were still working at the scene Sunday afternoon, but Pearman thinks the fire may have started in a two-story Victorian home.
This wasn’t the first time the Fire Department has responded to calls on these two homes, which were vacant and scheduled to be demolished in the coming weeks, according to Pearman.
“Over the previous several months, the fire department became very familiar with both of these structures,” Pearman said. “We ran not only various medical type emergencies with some of the homeless people that take up residence in these structures, but also a couple of . . . minor fires.”
Pearman said fire investigators will be on scene into Monday.
“This is an ongoing investigation with potential criminal implications just due to the nature. As far as a cause, we don’t have anything yet,” Pearman said. “This is going to take quit a bit of time.”
Several agencies, including Sedgwick County Emergency Management, Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office and Wichita Public Works and Utilities, are assisting in the investigation and cleanup of debris.