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The Kansas City Fire Department has responded to 15 fires at Olive Park Village since the beginning of the year, raising fears among neighbors and city officials as the vacant complex continues to deteriorate.
The complex became vacant in January after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ended its contract with property owner, Millennia, because of unlivable conditions at the complex.
Elrico Miles, who lives in the area, said the pace of fires is alarming. He said the neighborhood has changed dramatically.
"People used to live in here. It used to be a nice community. It's getting pretty bad over the time," Miles said.
He described waking up early one morning to find two buildings on fire.
Tony Wright, who lives nearby and walks past the complex regularly with his great-grandson, said he hears sirens often.
"I don't really like hearing sirens all the time. It wakes me up, because they will be in weird hours," Wright said.
Wright said he wants to see the property put to better use.
"I'd like to have apartments there," he said.
KCFD Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said the repeated calls to the same location have become a serious safety concern.
"It's very dangerous for us to go into these vacant structures. The longer they sit, the more dilapidated they get. Oftentimes, we run multiple fires in the same buildings, which degrades the building stability as well, which, you know, adds danger to us," Hopkins said.
Hopkins said the structural integrity of the buildings has declined significantly.
"Structurally, they're just not as stable as they were when this started for us. So we get in, we get a quick search done, and then we get out and we take a defensive posture."
At least one firefighter fell through a weakened floor during a recent response.
"We ran a fire here a couple of weeks ago where, when they entered on the first floor, there was a hole in the floor. They went through the hole down into the basement," Hopkins said.
Hopkins said the firefighter was able to get out on their own and nobody was injured.
Hopkins said all fires at the complex have been investigated, with some involving the police department's bomb and arson unit when arson was suspected, though many of the causes of the fire were undetermined. He said the department hopes ownership is held responsible.
"We would just like to see them secured so that we can stop running fires."
Sherae Honeycutt, press secretary and city spokeswoman for the City of Kansas City, called the situation frustrating.
"This is not the kind of neighborhood we want to see here in Kansas City," she said.
Honeycutt said the city has already taken the first step in holding the property owners accountable.
"The first step — we've already taken that — which was saying that nobody can live here," Honeycutt said.
She said the city has told property owners they must secure, fence, and demolish the property. One building has already been condemned and is slated for demolition, according to Honeycutt. But if owners do not act, the city is prepared to step in.
"If the property owners do not fence this property up, we will do it, and we will expect them to pay for it."
Honeycutt acknowledged that using taxpayer dollars for demolition is not something the city wants to do.
"It's not something we want to spend money on, but we also have to consider the safety risk," Honeycutt said.
She said the city will pursue legal means to recover costs from the property owner if necessary.
According to a January release from the city, Kansas City coordinated its response at Olive Park Village as residents transitioned to safe, stable housing following prolonged habitability and life-safety concerns at the property.
The city said Olive Park Village entered a relocation phase after ongoing code violations, deteriorating living conditions, and unresolved safety issues made continued occupancy untenable.
The action followed HUD's decision to abate its contract with Millennia due to a sustained failure to maintain the complex in safe and habitable condition.
Miles said he hopes the situation improves.
"Hopefully things get better."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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