SEDGWICK COUNTY —The Wichita Fire Department battled a two-alarm fire at a vacant building on Saturday afternoon.
Shortly after 4 pm the fire department was called to a fire in the area of Ninth and Main. When first crews arrived, the found heavy smoke in the area but no visible fire.
Firefighters from Squad One located a large two-story building with flames and heavy smoke visible. During a recent familiarization training crews from Station One had been made aware that the building was being left open and under demolition.
Earlier in the afternoon fire crews had walked through the building to keep up with the demolition process and monitor it for homeless activity. During the walk through crews encountered 14 different homeless individuals staying in the building for shelter.
Due to the known potential life hazards and heavy fire involvement, an aggressive search was prioritized, and three attack lines were put into service. With crews battling freezing temperatures, challenging building construction, and the manpower needed to confine and control the fire, a second alarm was started.
Search crews reported an “all clear” on primary and secondary searches. The cause of the fire is not known as of Sunday afternoon.