Dumpster fire damages downtown carpet store

Firefighters were continuing to investigate Tuesday what sparked an overnight two-alarm fire that began in a dumpster and damaged Kring’s Interior Fashion Center in downtown Lawrence.

No injuries were reported and no estimate of damage has been released.

The fire broke out sometime before 1:50 a.m. Tuesday in a dumpster in the 600 block of Massachusetts Street, according to Rob Kort, battalion chief for Lawrence Douglas County Fire & Medical.

The first firefighters to arrive found a dumpster fully engulfed in flames, with the fire extending into the carpet store, Kort said.

Crews entered the structure from the front and rear and were able to quickly extinguish it, he said.

Firefighters have responded to several dumpster fires in downtown Lawrence recently, including a different one overnight in the 700 block of Massachusetts. Fire officials were in meetings Tuesday afternoon and unavailable for comment on their investigation and whether the fires are related.

For the latest updates, tune in at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 and pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Journal-World.