Fire Department battles 4 fires in 24 hours

At approximately 12:44 Thursday afternoon, 02/03/22, our Fire Department was dispatched to 1418 Kansas Ave. for a report of a house on fire. When crews arrived, they found the rear of the two story, residential structure, on fire. Fire had also spread to the adjacent home just to the west, 1420 Kansas Ave. Crews were able to quickly bring both fires under control. The structure at 1418 was occupied and all residents were able to make it out safely. The adjacent home was unoccupied at the time of the fire. Crews were called out again at 2:55 am Friday morning, 02/04/22, for a report of another house on fire. When crews arrived, they found all residents had safely exited the residence. Firefighters found fire in the attic that had burned through the ceiling to a hallway on the second floor. They were able to quickly extinguish the fire in the bedroom and the area of origin in the attic. Thanks to a quick response by our personnel, they were on scene within 3 minutes of the page, making sure all 5 occupants were safely out of the house and able to save the building and contents. A working smoke detector woke the family and alerted them to the fire who were able to call 911 as they exited the residence. Due to smoke damage from the fire and water used to extinguish the flames, the family was displaced temporarily. Only 6 hours later crews were again dispatched to dispatched for a report of a house on fire at 833 Mound, reporting flames showing. When we arrived, we found the rear of the single-story house, engulfed in flames. Our crews were able to make their way inside to battle the fire but had to be called back out due to the rapid deterioration of the structure. Crews switched to a defensive mode, fighting the fire from outside where they are currently bringing it under control. The residents were not at home at the time of the fire, all  family pets were able to escape and found safe.

No injuries were reported, either from the residents or responding crews. Our investigators are currently working to determine the cause and origin of all the incidents and at this time remain under investigation.

Atchison PD also responded and assisted along with Atchison County EMS and Atchison County Emergency Management. The Atchison Salvation Army also responded and provided assistance to the residents as well as responders.

 “I’m extremely proud of the leadership from Captain’s Mike Wahwahsuck, Ted Graf and Lieutenant Nick Martinez, who fought their third house fire in one 24-hour shift, with a relatively inexperienced crew. I’m proud of all our personnel from the on-duty crew to those on-call who responded on their day off and helped, including our investigator, Lieutenant David Downing, who responded to assist with fire suppression before beginning his investigation on all incidents. We have a fantastic group of firefighters and days like yesterday are a perfect example of the dedication they all have to their community”. – Atchison Fire Chief, Patrick Weishaar