Two Kansas City firefighters were killed and two injured when a burning building collapsed on Monday night, a fire official said.
Battalion Chief James Garrett told the Kansas City Star that crews were dispatched to a building on the north-east side of town around 7.30pm. Firefighters found the building – which includes apartments – heavily damaged and evacuated people from inside.
Firefighters were clearing an area with a partially collapsed roof when the structure collapsed further, injuring four of them, Garrett said. Two of them died.
Fire Chief Paul Berardi told reporters at a press conference that the firefighters who were killed had rescued two people inside the building.
“This is the worst day. What’s good for their families to know is that they didn’t die in vain,” Berardi said. “They saved two civilians, carried them out of the second floor on ladders before the wall collapsed,” he said.
“Tonight’s tragic loss is a reminder that Kansas City firefighters put their lives on the line for all of us every day,” Mayor Sly James said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to the loved ones of those who made the ultimate sacrifice today and we pray for recovery of the injured.”
Hours after the firefighters were injured there were still flames in the rubble, the newspaper reported. It was not immediately clear what started the fire.