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Fatal Atchison apt fire investigation continues

By Brian Hagen

05/15/2024

(KAIR)--The cause of the fatal, late morning, May 6 fire at the Massasoit Court apartment complex, in Atchison, that claimed the life of a toddler, remains under investigation.

That's according to Atchison Fire Chief Patrick Weishaar, who tells MSC News, through emailed correspondence, that "early reports revealed the fire started in the bedroom near where the victim was found," with the autopsy results revealing that the child's "cause of death was from inhalation of smoke and hot gas from the fire."

Also rescued from the apartment was another resident, a man whose identity has not been made public. Rescued through a window, the man was transported to the University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City, where Weishaar says, at last check, he remained hospitalized, recovering from his injuries. Investigators are, Weishaar says, "still in the process of interviewing [him] and others that may have any information pertaining to the cause" of the fire.

Investigators from the Atchison Fire and Police Departments, and the State Fire Marshal's Office, continue to seek the cause of the deadly blaze, with Weishaar telling MSC News that while "there was no physical evidence at the scene of what may have caused the fire...some equipment was retrieved from the scene by investigators for examination."