Fire may be one of worst in city’s history

The fire at the Boardwalk Apartments complex early Friday morning likely is one of the worst the city has ever experienced.

About 25 people were injured as a result of the fire, which broke out in the 76-unit apartment building in the 500 block of Fireside Drive shortly after 1 a.m. on Friday. At last check, three residents were still unaccounted for.

“Right off hand, can’t think of anything worse except for maybe the burning of Lawrence during Quantrill’s raid,” said Helen M. Krische, archivist and exhibits coordinator for the Watkins Community Museum of History.

On Aug. 21, 1863, William Quantrill led a group of up to 200 men into Lawrence. Quantrill and the men raided and set fire to the city.

At the end of the mayhem, reports stated that all but two of the 75 stores and businesses on the main street were burned and nearly 100 residences were destroyed. The raid left 143 people dead and 30 seriously wounded.

The other fatal fire that came to Krische’s mind involved the former Douglas County Home, which was two miles south of Lawrence. The fire happened in April 1944. Eight of the 34 elderly residents died in the fire, which burned the house to the ground.

The following are other big fires that have struck the Lawrence community:

¢ The Kansas University Student Union sustained $1 million in damage during a large fire on April 20, 1970. The fire collapsed the roof in the central part of the Union and gutted the top two floors of the building. There were no major injuries from the fire.

¢ A firefighter died battling a blaze in a southwest Lawrence home on July 17, 1986. Mark Blair, who was a seven-year veteran of the local fire department, was the first firefighter to die in the history of the department, which formed in 1859. The fire happened at 3028 Rimrock and caused about $75,000 in damage.

¢ A fire ravaged a portion of the 800 block of Massachusetts Street on Feb. 26, 1997. The fire took out an L-shaped building containing Sunflower Surplus, Sunflower Bike Shop and a former juice bar at 9 E. Eighth St.

No injuries resulted from the fire, but damages were about $1 million. Sunflower owners rebuilt their store in the 900 block of Massachusetts.

¢ On Aug. 10, 2000, a fire destroyed the main building of Raintree Montessori School, 4601 Clinton Parkway. No people were injured, but animals in classrooms perished in the flames. The fire caused about $1.5 million in damage.

¢ A fire at an apartment complex under construction caused about $700,000 in damage on May 18, 2002.

The fire at Chase Court Apartments, 1942 Steward, decimated a building under construction and damaged two neighboring structures.

Two firefighters suffered minor burns, but there were no other injuries.

The fire was so large that 31 firefighters responded to the scene, and Overland Park Fire Department was asked to send two trucks to cover other areas of Lawrence in case of an emergency.

¢ A blaze at the Lawrence Athletic Club, 3201 Mesa Way, on Feb. 4, 1999, caused $1.5 million in damage to the fitness center. No one was injured in the fire, which happened outside of business hours.

Boardwalk Apartments had clean inspections record

The apartments destroyed in the blaze at Boardwalk Apartments appear to have a clean record when it comes to safety inspections.

All of the addresses in the destroyed building – 510 through 524 Fireside Drive – had been inspected by the fire marshal Aug. 24 and found to have no violations, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical records.

Also, according to city codes enforcement manager Barry Walthall, there have been no building-code complaints filed by residents of the building in the past four years.

“We haven’t had any activity there,” Walthall said.

He said records show that many of the units in the building got new furnaces and air conditioners between 1996 and 1998, but there were no permits for additions or modifications to the building since then.