Updated Wednesday, noon:
Shawnee Fire investigators have determined a house fire on Summit Street Tuesday evening was accidental and caused by the “improper disposal of smoking material in the garage.”
The fire caused significant damage to the home, totaling an estimated $650,000, according to a statement from Shawnee Fire officials.
Original story continues below:
A neighbor is being credited with rescuing a man from inside a burning house on Tuesday evening in Shawnee.
Shawnee, Lenexa and Overland Park firefighters were called to the 7100 block of Summit Street, just to the southwest of 71st Street and Pflumm Road, at 6:49 p.m. for a reported house fire with possible injuries.
Arriving firefighters reported heavy fire from the garage of the house.
One of those people, only identified as a man, was found on the floor inside the house when an alert neighbor rushed in to help.
Neighbor Phil Bishop spoke to a reporter on the scene and said he heard the popping sound of the fire from inside his own house and went to investigate.
“I looked out of my front door and see flames just coming out of the garage,” Bishop said.
He said he called 911 and ran outside to check on his neighbors.
Bishop said he knew three people lived in the house and wasn’t sure if they were all outside.
He spoke to a woman standing outside the house who told him that someone was still inside and on the floor.
Bishop said the smoke was at chest level when he went inside, so he ducked to stay below the smoke as he searched for the man.
He quickly found the man on the floor near the living room in the back of the house. He was able to drag that man from the house. Bishop said the man was not injured but couldn’t get himself up off of the floor.
Bishop then helped a second man who was using a walker exit the front door of the home before firefighters arrived.
Paramedics checked out all three people at the scene. No one was transported from the scene by ambulance.
Firefighters battled a vehicle fire inside the garage that spread to the second level of the house.
It took about an hour to bring the flames under control.
No firefighters were injured.
Damage to the house is significant, and all three adult residents will be displaced, officials say.
Three vehicles — two in the garage and one in the driveway — also sustained significant fire damage.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
No other details were immediately available.
