OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) — No one was injured as three houses went up in flames early Monday morning in an Overland Park neighborhood.
The homes were under construction on West 172nd Terrace, in a subdivision just off of Pflumm Road. They were in the framing phase of construction, meaning they did not yet have any fire protection measures in place, according to the Overland Park Fire Department.
Crews responded at 4:18 a.m. to a two-alarm house fire on 172nd Terrace. Responding crews found three homes engulfed in flames, and they began dousing the fires in water. Even so, the flames continued for over an hour, with Overland Park firefighters also requesting the assistance of the Olathe Fire Department.
Firefighters doused a fourth home in water because of falling embers. Residents of that house were evacuated, but it did not end up catching fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but the fire department said it began with the middle house, then spread to the houses on either side.
“Tremendous thermal columns combined with the winds from the south spread flaming embers to the adjoining house to the north and radiant heat likely ignited the house to the south,” according to a statement released by the Overland Park Fire Department. “All three homes were fully involved within minutes.”
A sign in the front of one of the house’s yards indicated it had just recently been sold.
