KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department provided an update Wednesday that the cause of the recent fire at Spanish Gardens Taco House was ruled accidental.
Sunday afternoon, the warehouse was ablaze with heavy smoke visible from a distance.
EARLIER | KCKFD battles blaze at Spanish Gardens Taco House
KCKFD determined the cause of the fire was oily rags that had been improperly disposed of and, thus, spontaneously combusted.
“The rags were used to clean up the cooking oils on a daily basis and were not removed at the end of the day(Friday 2/16) or placed in an appropriate can for storing and controlling this type of product that is capable of spontaneous,” per KCKFD.
Firefighters said the blaze from the rags spread to a large fuel load of cardboard and paper products.
At the time of the fire, the facility was closed, so no employees were in the warehouse. No firefighters were injured either.
After the fire, Spanish Gardens released a statement thanking KCKFD. The business also reassured customers no product was affected, so there would be no immediate impact on the supply chain.
As a “proud pillar in the Argentine community for over 50 years,” Spanish Gardens said in a statement the community’s outpouring of support has been “overwhelming and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
“While this is an unfortunate incident, we are committed to rebuilding and coming back stronger than before,” the statement read.
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