Fully engulfed house fire in rural Douglas County
Fully engulfed house fire about three miles northeast of Baldwin City in rural Douglas County.
At 4:06 a.m. Palmyra Township fire was dispatched to respond on house fire at 358 E. 2073 Road. The address is about three miles northeast of Baldwin City.
Initial reports indicate that the resident returned home to find his residence on fire and called 911.
A Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter advised dispatchers that the structure was fully engulfed, just one minute after firefighters were dispatched. The highway patrol’s helicopter had been in Johnson County assisting in the search for a man who ran from a stolen vehicle on Interstate 35 near the Gardner-Edgerton area.
The helicopter pilot told dispatchers that his earlier area search was about nine miles to the east and they could see the ‘glow’ starting around 4 a.m.. When the helicopter was available from their search, they went to investigate the glow and learned that the fire had already been reported to Douglas County authorities.
Fire crews arrived within five minutes to confirm that the home was fully engulfed and crews would be using a defensive attack to keep it from spreading.
Palmyra Township fire requested a county-wide tender (water tanker) response and assistance from several township fire departments, Baldwin City fire and Wellsville Fire from Franklin County.
No injuries have been reported.
Stay with Operation 100 News on this blog and Twitter for updates as more details become available. Learn how to receive breaking news updates here. For a full look at incidents from Douglas and Johnson counties this morning, take a look at the Operation 100 News twitter feed using the link above.