By Matti Gellman
The Kansas City Star
BUCKNER, Mo. — One firefighter remains seriously injured and another was released from the hospital with minor injuries after a grass fire blazed through 15 acres north of Buckner on Friday, according to a statement from the Fort Osage Fire Protection District.
Officers responded to the fire shortly after 2:15 p.m. on Friday in the 3100 block of East Blue Mills Road, said District Fire Chief Jared White, a spokesman for the department.
Neighboring crews were called in to help as the fire engulfed about 2 or 3 acres of land and continued to widen as a field across Blue Mills Road lit up. At its peak, the fire spread across nearly 15 acres, destroying several small outbuildings.
A Fort Osage crew that was using a brush truck — a small fire-fighting rig used specifically for small brush fires — became surrounded by heavy smoke and its occupants were forced to evacuate.
Both of the truck’s occupants were transported by ambulance to the hospital on Friday. The truck they had been in was destroyed in the blaze.
The fire was brought under control by 4 p.m., but flare-ups continued through the evening and into early Saturday morning.
One of the officers remains hospitalized in serious condition, White said on Saturday afternoon.
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office, he said.
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