Great Bend Fire Chief Luke McCormick said Tuesday there were no explosions in a house fire last Friday, even though that was part of the 911 dispatch.
“Our investigation is closed at this point,” McCormick said. The cause of the fire was officially ruled as “undetermined.”
However, McCormick said, “We couldn’t eliminate an electrical outlet in the bedroom.”
The house at 2607 19th St. sustained more than $25,000 in damage. Fire damage was mostly isolated to a bedroom and the front living room, but there was smoke and heat damage throughout.
The house is owned by Chandler Brown. Its occupant, Justin Smokes, told firefighters he had dozed off while watching television in the living room and awoke in a smoke-filled room.
“He got out of the house but couldn’t find his phone,” McCormick said. As Smokes attempted to contact a neighbor for help, someone driving by called 911.
Firefighters were dispatched at 12:58 p.m. with a message that there was a structure fire with explosions. McCormick said he doesn’t know the source of that information, but there was never any evidence or witness accounts of an explosion.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Great Bend Police Department, as well as the Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office, got involved “based on evidence at the scene,” McCormick said. He did not disclose the nature of that evidence but said the investigation is over.
“C Shift did a really nice job of containing the fire,” McCormick said.