Four northern Johnson County fire departments had crews on the scene of an apartment building fire in Shawnee on Wednesday morning.
One Shawnee fire truck was dispatched at 9:14 a.m., to investigate a report of smoke from a vent in one apartment in the Onyx at 67 Apartments, 10912 West 66th St.
The complex is northeast of 67th Street and Nieman Road, immediately north of Nieman Elementary School.
As the fire truck was responding, dispatchers began receiving more 911 calls from residents of the building reporting smoke. The response was upgraded to a building fire.
That brought in firefighters from Overland Park, Lenexa and Consolidated Fire District No. 2.
At approximately 9:16 a.m. today, the Shawnee Fire Department, Overland Park Fire Department, Consolidated Fire District #2, Lenexa Fire Department, and Johnson County MED-ACT, along with the EMS Medical Director, responded to a building fire in the 10900 block of W. 66th Street. pic.twitter.com/YGOsCksqPW
— ShawneeKSFire (@ShawneeKSFire) January 15, 2025
Overland Park Fire Media Manager Jason Rhodes briefed reporters late Wednesday morning and said that the fire is believed to have started in a lower level apartment and then spread inside the walls into the structure’s attic.
Rhodes said firefighters had to tear into many walls and ceilings to access and extinguish the flames.
Johnson County Med-Act’s firefighter rehab unit also responded to the complex and assembled their heated tent to warm firefighters between shifts attacking the fire. Temperatures Wednesday morning hovered in the 20s, with wind chills in the teens.
Paramedics in the rehab unit also monitor firefighters’ vital signs and ensure they are adequately hydrated before returning to the fire.
It took crews nearly two hours to bring the fire under control. Due to the labor-intensive fire attack and cold conditions, numerous additional firefighters were called to assist at the scene.
Two people were taken to an area hospital by ambulances.
Rhodes said of those persons is a building resident who was assisted by firefighters from the building. That man is being treated for smoke inhalation and is now in stable condition at an area hospital.
Later, a firefighter was taken from Med-Act’s warming tent to a hospital to get checked out. The firefighter walked to the ambulance without assistance. His condition is also described as stable.
Snow-packed and icy conditions in the apartment complex parking lot further complicated working conditions as multiple firefighters slipped and fell.
With the help of Shawnee Public Works employees, Shawnee police officers were seen spreading rock salt to the areas where firefighters were trying to work.
Police also helped move breathing air bottles from the fire scene to a nearby fire truck capable of refilling those bottles and then returning them to fire crews.
Rhodes said the fire spread across the building’s attic, causing extensive damage and causing at least 16 apartments to be impacted.
Fifteen of those units were occupied, according to officials, but the total number of residents displaced by the fire was not immediately known Wednesday.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
