Kansas City MO Firefighters Respond to Partial Building Collapse

Oct. 06 -- Firefighters responded Saturday morning to a partial building collapse in downtown Kansas City, but said everyone was accounted for and there were no injuries.

The building was located at the northeast corner of 18th and Locust streets, not far from Grinders Pizza and other Crossroads area restaurants and businesses.

The building stretched along 18th street, and the collapsed part was at the west end of the structure.

Firefighters arrived at about 7:20 a.m. and found the roof on the west end caved into the building. The cause wasn’t yet known, but it had been raining hard at the time.

Eric Baines, vice president of operations for a business called The Sound Environment, was staying in a loft apartment on the building’s east side and said he heard the collapse.

“It was thunderous,” he said later Saturday morning. “There was a huge dust cloud.”

Baines ran outside before the fire department arrived. He said five other people were staying in loft apartments in the building, and all got outside safely, some with the assistance of firefighters.

Kansas City Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Sheil said the two-story building has businesses on the first floor and apartments on the upper floor. He said the person living in the apartment where the collapse occurred had been contacted and was out of town. No one was injured.

Baines said The Sound Environment, a high-end audio store based in Omaha, opened a retail space on the building’s second floor about two months ago, as a space for music lovers in the Crossroads Arts District. It is open on First Fridays, first Saturdays and by appointment.

Baines estimated the building is about 100 years old and said it is in basically good shape, although he knew of reports that it has been struck several times by vehicles in recent years. In addition to six loft apartments, Baines said the building also contains some gallery spaces, and the first floor was under construction for a new restaurant.

Sheil said the gas company had also been called because there was a small gas leak on one corner of the building, but it was thinning out into the air and not thought to be hazardous.

Kansas City’s dangerous buildings officials will get with the owner Monday morning to assess the building’s future, according to city spokesman Chris Hernandez.

Hernandez said the situation was under control before noon Saturday and was being handled by the owner and the owner’s insurance company.

He said barricades were being placed on one lane of 18th Street and one lane of Locust to keep traffic away from the building.