A devastating fire erupted at a suburban Kansas City apartment complex in the freezing cold killing a family of four early Wednesday morning.
Firefighters responded to the Indy Ridge Apartments in Independence at around 6 a.m., Fire Chief Jimmy Walker said.
Four people, including two children aged 3 and 8, were found deceased after the flames were put out.
“Our crews upon arrival had heavy fire on the second and third floor and through the roof,” Walker said.
“That’s the only reason we pulled out is because we actually had guys inside and gal inside when the building started to collapse.”
It took crews about four hours battling the flames with two firefighters suffering burns. Walker said 32 residents had to be displaced.
“All of a sudden, they didn’t even knock on my door, they just busted in, ‘Hey you need to get out, you need to get out,’” a witness recalled.
The fire department said the blaze started because of an unattended stovetop.
