Boiling a candle in pot of water started fire at Kansas college apartment, police say

A fire at a Kansas community college apartment Sunday evening started by boiling a candle, police said.

Emergency crews — including police, firefighters and paramedics — were called at around 7 p.m. to a reported building fire at Garden City Community College, police Sgt. Lana Urteaga said in a news release. The fire was found in an apartment at 611 Campus Drive on the southeast corner of the GCCC campus.

Firefighters extinguished the flames in a kitchen area after college staff had tried and failed to put the fire out, police said.

“Investigation revealed the resident of the apartment had boiled a candle in a pot of water on the stove, which ultimately caught fire to the stove and surrounding area,” the release states.

“Burning lit candles in the dorms is prohibited, so he used an alternative method to melt the candle wax,” Urteaga told The Eagle.

The resident then forgot the candle was on the stove when leaving, Urteaga said.

The fire was first reported by a passerby who saw smoke and entered the apartment after trying and failing to contact people inside. No residents were in the building at the time of the fire, police said, and an adjacent apartment complex was evacuated as a precaution during the incident. The passerby’s minor injuries were treated at the scene by paramedics.

The blaze was ruled an accidental fire, Urteaga said, and there is no criminal investigation. Police did not have a damage estimate.

This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 4:03 PM.