Fire Department News

The Lee's Summit Fire Department is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®) to promote this year's Fire Prevention Week (FPW) campaign, "Cooking safety starts with you. Pay attention to fire prevention.” The campaign educates everyone about simple but important actions they can take when cooking to keep themselves and those around them safe.   According to NFPA, cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries in the United States. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires and deaths.  "Year after year, cooking remains the leading cause of home fires by far, accounting for half (49 percent) of all U.S. home fires. The Lee's Summit Fire Department encourages all residents to embrace the 2023 Fire Prevention Week theme, "Cooking safety starts with you. Pay...

On Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 5:03 p.m., the Lee's Summit Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 1500 Block of SW Highway Lane. A passerby reported smoke and fire from the house's roof with no one around. When the fire department arrived, smoke was visible from the roof of a one-story, single-family vacant residence under renovation. A worker was in the backyard attempting to extinguish a brush pile fire near the house.  The house fire involved burning debris in the gutter that spread into the attic. Firefighters pulled down the ceiling in the kitchen and extinguished the fire in the attic, while crews extinguished the fire in the gutter and the brush pile in the backyard. The incident was under control by 5:15 p.m.  The fire damaged half of the attic. The fire did not extend into the living space of the house. The fire outside the home...

On Friday, September 1, at 9:23 p.m., the Lee's Summit Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 1000 Block of SW Whistle Drive. The occupant returned home Friday evening to find smoke coming from the house and called 911. When the fire department arrived, heavy smoke was coming from the garage, and fire was visible inside the two-story, single-family residence. The occupants were safe outside. Firefighters entered the building and knocked down the fire in the first-floor kitchen that had started to burn through to the second floor. A search of the building confirmed that everyone was out. The incident was under control by 9:59 p.m. The fire caused heavy damage to the kitchen and second-floor bedroom, with extensive heat and smoke damage throughout the remainder of the structure. The fire originated in the kitchen. The cause is yet to be determined.

On Thursday, August 3, at 11:47 p.m., the Lee's Summit Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Performance Food Group (PFG), 290 SE Thompson Drive. Employees coming to work discovered a fire involving a refrigerated semi-trailer parked against the dock door. When crews arrived, the fire had engulfed the box trailer at the dock door of a large food distribution warehouse. A second alarm was requested for additional personnel and equipment. The fire was in the trailer's refrigeration unit and spread through the trailer to the building through the open trailer door. The dock door was closed, slowing the fire's spread. Firefighters attacked the fire in the trailer as crews entered the building to check for fire spread inside. Heat damage to the door allowed heavy smoke to enter the dock area, but firefighters contained the fire before it could spread inside....

On Sunday, July 30, 2023, at 10:00 p.m., the Lee's Summit Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 2500 Block of NW Clifford Road. The caller reported a fire from the roof of a detached shop. When crews arrived, the roof of the one-and-a-half-story detached shop with an upstairs apartment was engulfed in flames and was beginning to collapse. The owner confirmed that the shop was unoccupied, and no one lived in the apartment. Crews extinguished the fire from a defensive position outside the building. Firefighters protected a travel trailer parked next to the building until the owner could move it away without any damage. The fire was under control by 10:56 p.m. A firefighter taken by ambulance was treated and released at an area hospital. The fire caused extensive damage to the building. The probable cause was a lightning strike from the storm moving through...