2 people injured in south Wichita house fire

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Two people were severely injured in a south Wichita house fire Wednesday evening, authorities said.

According to Sedgwick County Dispatch, they received a call at 6:22 p.m. for the report of a house fire in the 2100 block of S. Water.

Upon arrival at the scene, Wichita Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Bowen says crews reported finding nothing showing.

“Shortly after, upgraded to light smoke and ended up being an alley-side house address off of Water Street,” said Bowen. “So, the front house kind of blocking the visuals but pretty minimal smoke, and that escalated really quickly.”

Two people were able to evacuate the home on their own. They were taken to a local hospital for treatment. By Thursday afternoon, one of the victims had already been released from the hospital. The other victim remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Crews were able to get the fire under control and search for other victims. None were found.

The Wichita Fire Department said the cause of the fire was someone smoking while on oxygen.

Bowen says extensive damage was done to the home.

“Some fire safety things that we need to talk about, got to have working smoke detectors, and you got to check them once a month to make sure they’re operable rather they’re battery or hard-wired,” said Bowen. “And the second, that critical life safety issues for your family, is close before you doze. So you sleep in your bedroom, you shut your bedroom door that isolates you if a fire starts somewhere else in the house. That gives you an incredible amount of safety just having that closed bedroom door. It keeps that smoke and heat away from you and makes that area where it’s survivable.”

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