Metal building catches fire at Joyland late Monday

Wichita firefighters put out a fire overnight at a large metal building at 2801 S. Hillside, the former Joyland Amusement Park.

Fire crews responded to a call at 11:52 p.m. Monday about a fire at Joyland, according to a Sedgwick County dispatcher.

When crews arrived on the scene, they found a 100-by-30-foot building near the old railroad tracks on fire with heavy smoke, according to Jose Ocadiz, a spokesman for the Wichita Fire Department. They had to cut through some locks get inside, Ocadiz said.

“Becuase of the extent of the fire, they were not able to go to the interior and defend it,” Ocadiz said. Instead they surrounded the fire and poured water on it, he said, and eventually part of the building collapsed.

By 12:40 a.m. they had the fire under control, the dispatcher said.

As of Tuesday morning investigators were still waiting for the building to be safe before entering it and did not yet know what the cause of the fire was.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 8:25 AM with the headline "Metal building catches fire at Joyland late Monday."