UPDATE 12/17/2016: Officials say the fire was caused by a compressed wax log in a fireplace.
Nearly 30 people are reportedly homeless now because of the fire.
ORIGINAL STORY: 12/15/2016:
A massive fire at an apartment complex on Thursday led to the homes of 59 people being either destroyed or damaged.
Firefighters said emergency crews first responded around 4 p.m. to the Twin Oaks apartment complex near Mission Road.
While no injuries were reported, the fire destroyed one apartment building and damaged four others.
A look at the destroyed apartment building after Harrisonville fire. 59 displaced. No injuries. Cause still unknown pic.twitter.com/XCOUlE5oqQ
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) December 16, 2016
Emergency crews said the fire spread after burning debris from the first building landed on the roofs of the other four buildings.
"We heard a bunch of people out in the hallways knocking on everyone's door," explained Twin Oaks resident Ryun Goodfield. "I just opened the door up and nobody was there, but I heard a bunch of people screaming upstairs. I woke everybody up and ran outside and there was a giant fire on the roof."
On Thursday night, Goodfield watched as firefighters worked through the blackened debris of his home.
"I'm just kind of waiting to be able to go back in and see if I can get any of my stuff," he explained.
Part of the rescue effort was led by a group of friends who decided to run inside a burning building to help residents.
"I noticed that the building was smoking. I ran around and saw that there were flames," explained Aundrea Coltrin, who lives near the apartment complex. "I ran inside and just started getting people out of the building as fast as I could."
Coltrin said she decided to run in and help because she was worried people would die inside the building.
Once inside, she said the dangers were easy to see.
"It started to fill with smoke slowly," she explained. "By the time everyone got out of there, smoke was everywhere."
In total, around nine different fire companies responded to the emergency.
Harrisonville FD says 9 fire companies assisted with emergency response at Twin Oaks Apts pic.twitter.com/cKruzmGehG
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) December 16, 2016
By Thursday night, a cause was still unknown.
Earlier in the day, firefighters responded to a brush fire close to the apartment complex. An investigator said it was unknown if the brush fire was connected to the later incident.
The Red Cross is now assisting the 59 people displaced by Thursday's fire.
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.
