In his more than 30 years as a firefighter, Overland Park Fire Deputy Chief Michael Casey said the CityPlace fire is one he’ll never forget.
“It happened as the case studies say that you may go for a block or two without any damage at all and then have another structure fire resulting from the drop down,” Casey said Friday in an interview with 41 Action News.
Which is why Casey, serving as one of the commanders, established a mobile command post to oversee the massive operation on Monday.
At the height of the fire there were 50 fire trucks and ambulances on scene. All personnel relied on their training and an incident command system that has a clear hierarchy.
“We always have a clear line of authority. We have clear unity of command, which is basically every team has a boss and only one boss,” Casey said.
It saved lives, but on Friday the city of Overland Park announced the fire caused roughly $23 to $25 million worth of damage.
“Part of it is looking at the county appraised value as well as the construction costs—it’s all an estimate. It truly is an estimate. I would expect it to go up,” Sean Reilly, a spokesperson with Overland Park, Kansas, said.
That’s not counting the fire trucks damaged by the heat.
“One lesson learned for example that is that we should prepare ourselves for putting ourselves into a position and how do we move our apparatus safely,” Casey said.
In the coming weeks and months the fire department will work with other agencies and community partners to analyze what worked and didn’t on Monday.
“We talk about the ‘big one’ in the fire service,” Casey said. “This was the big one for us.”
