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Man dead in Mission Hills fire

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Posted at 6:03 AM, Mar 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-19 08:33:20-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man is dead after fire ripped through a Mission Hills home on West 69th Street Tuesday morning.

Fire investigators were called to the scene around 2:15 a.m.

They said two people were home at the time the fire broke out.

According to Fire Chief Tony Lopez of Johnson County Consolidate District No. 2, 90-year-old Mary Korbelik told crews she heard the smoke alarm from her second-floor bedroom.

She came down downstairs and found her son, identified as 53-year-old David John Korbelik, in the area of the fire in the living room.

Mary tried to put the fire out with a nearby coat, but the fire was too strong, so she left to get help from a neighbor.

Officers from the Prairie Village Police Department tried to get into the home through the front door but were unable to due to heat.

Lopez said if Mary had stayed a few minutes longer, she most likely would have died, too.

The cause of the fire was unknown as of Tuesday morning. The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office is assisting with the investigation.