Major Apartment Building Fire in Shawnee KS

At least ten fire companies from the Shawnee- Lenexa-  Merriam- Overland Park and Johnson County Fire District 2 fire departments are battling a three-alarm fire at an apartment complex...


The initial alarm sounded for a reported fire in one of the buildings at the Hampton Woods apartment complex in the 16800 block of West 68th Street around 7:05 p.m. Thursday evening.

The complex is southeast of the Shawnee-Mission Drive and I-435 interchange in Shawnee.

Smoke and fire was showing from a ground-level apartment when the first fire truck arrived minutes later- and the fire grew in the gusty west-northwest winds to a third-alarm stage wihin an hour.


There was a partial structual collapse about 45 minutes into the firefight- and all interior firefighting crews were removed and the fire was fought from outside the building from that point.

Other buildings in the complex were evacuated because of the fear of blowing embers igniting those structures.


The fire to burned the one  building virtually to the ground- but no report of any other buildings in the complex catching fire.

There were no injuries- although an unknown number of pets in the apartments in the fire building died.


At least 40 people lost all their possessions in the fire and were rendered homeless- the American Red Cross was assisting them.


Hot spots continued to flare with the diminishing wind conditions early Friday morning- with an investigation as to the fire's cause to be performed at daylight.