Sunday, September 9, 2012
Crews battled a challenging house fire late Saturday night in the 1600 block of S. Water Street in Wichita.
At about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, crews got a call of smoke in the area. But when they responded they found the home at 1631 S. Water Street on fire, Battalion Chief Kevin Royce said.
No one was in the home at the time, he said.
Royce said the fire was a "defensive fire from the very beginning."
Part of the roof of the old home collapsed. A crew had been inside not long before but was alerted to the danger and evacuated before the collapse happened, Royce said.
There was also a downed power line in the backyard that prevented crews from putting out the fire until Westar Energy could be contacted.
Crews say the home is a total loss.
The people who lived there were in the process of moving out this weekend, Royce said.
Crews will stay through the night to monitor the situation. An investigation will continue Sunday morning.
