Updated 2 p.m. Friday
The fire reported at Homestead on Thursday was instead sparks from an electrical panel caused by the building’s sprinklers going off, officials said Friday afternoon.
Assistant Fire Chief Chris Hull said the Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office finished its on-site investigation into the report of a fire at Homestead Thursday. The building was released back to management and residents were able to stay.
Hull said he was unaware of any displacements. The investigation report information must come from the fire marshal’s office, Hull said.
Lance Feyh, a spokesperson for the marshal’s office, said they were called to assist on what was thought to be a fire, but upon investigation it discovered there was no fire, only sprinklers going off. The officer who arrived on the scene saw sparks in the electrical panel and believed it was a fire, he said.
“The sprinkler caused the spark. We are looking into if there was damage to the sprinkler causing it to disperse water, then causing the sparks,” Feyh said.
A fire broke out inside the utility room at Homestead of Eudora Thursday afternoon.
The small fire tripped the sprinkler system in the building and caused a power outage due to water on the electrical panel, Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said.
The fire has been put out, and no injuries were reported. The fire department was notified at 3:16 p.m.
Assistant Fire Chief Chris Hull said the fire was contained by the sprinklers and no smoke was able to reach the building. There was water damage to the electrical room and to a couple of residents’ rooms.
The police department arrived at the scene before the fire department and was able to identify the source of the fire and find that the sprinklers were successful. When the fire department arrived, everyone had been evacuated from the building.
“Just a great example of why fire sprinklers are important because this could have been a tragic fire, but fire sprinklers contained it and prevented any kind of injury or major smoke problems,” Hull said.
The state fire marshal is on the way to the scene. An investigation by the fire marshal is required because the building is a licensed health care facility, not because any foul play is suspected, Hull said. If possible, a determination about the cause will be identified and then it will be turned back to the facility’s management.
Hull said the facility had assured him they have plans to relocate residents to nearby facilities if that is found necessary.
Power is out throughout the building, and the marshal will make a determination if it is necessary to relocate residents.
An employee with Homestead told the Eudora Times that Executive Director Dawn Hill was unavailable and was not able to provide information on when she would be reachable.
