5 firefighters injured in Kansas City building fire

HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Five firefighters were injured Friday morning while battling a blaze at a 1920s building that once housed vaudeville productions and showings of silent films.

The firefighters were injured inside the two-story building about 10 a.m., Battalion Chief Joe Vitale said.

Four were still in the University of Kansas Hospital's burn unit in Kansas City, Kan., Friday evening. The fifth was released after being treated, Chief Smoky Dyer said.

One of the firefighters was in serious condition, one in fair condition and the other two were in good condition and may be able to go home Saturday.

Two of them are fire captains, one with 29 years' experience and one with 20.

A sixth firefighter was taken to a hospital but not treated, Dyer said.

The worst of the injured had burns on about 30 percent of his body, Vitale said.

He said the firefighters were trying to locate the source of the fire when there was a flashover, which occurs when the contents of a room heat to their ignition point and simultaneously burst into flame.

The injured firefighters, whose names were not immediately released, were able to make it out of the building on their own. More
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