Residents of five apartments in the West End Flats at Prairiefire Apartments, near 137th Street and Lamar Avenue, were displaced following a fire on Sunday evening.
Overland Park and Leawood firefighters responded to the apartment building located at 6230 West 137th Street at 5:46 p.m.
Recorded radio traffic from Overland Park Police indicates that officers reported heavy smoke from a balcony on the top floor when they arrived. Police were evacuating residents of the building as firefighters arrived on the scene.
Overland Park Fire Department Media Manager Jason Rhodes says firefighters arrived to report smoke and fire visible from a fourth-floor balcony.
“Crews quickly extinguished the fire,” Rhodes said in a news release. “The deck was destroyed, but the unit suffered only smoke damage and water damage from sprinkler activation.”
Johnson County Med-Act transported one police officer to Overland Park Regional Medical Center for evaluation of possible smoke inhalation.
Rhodes says the officer suffered minor smoke inhalation. No other injuries were reported.
Firefighters rescued two cats from the apartment where the fire started.
Rhodes says the Red Cross will assist the residents of five apartments displaced due to water damage.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Mike Frizzell is a freelance crime and fire reporter who runs Operation 100 News.
