At 5:32 a.m. Friday morning, Mar. 15, 2024, crews were dispatched to reports of a fire in the 800 block of S. 227th Place in Des Moines, at the same building where one burned on Jan. 23.
After this unit experienced a blaze in January, it was boarded up and was not supposed to be occupied due to previous fire damage.
The first of numerous crews arrived on-scene at 5:39 a.m. with heavy smoke coming from the building, and with several police officers complaining of smoke inhalation.
Des Moines Police reported that a possible subject was still inside. The first arriving crew immediately went into rescue mode and made their way to the seat of the fire, extinguishing it quickly. They performed a primary search of the structure and found no one.
As more crews arrived, they were able to assist in extinguishing the rest of the fire and ventilating the structure. A different crew then performed a secondary search of the structure and found no one inside.
One police officer was treated for smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported.
This event started as a police call, and therefore it is under investigation by both the Des Moines PD and the King County Sheriff’s Fire Investigation Unit.
