Just after 7:30 p.m. on May 25, crews were called to a fire at 135 N. Lawn Ave., where the top floor and roof of the apartment building was engulfed in flames.

Kansas City Fire Department Deputy Chief Nino Bruno was on the scene, directing crews.

“The building was occupied with three residents at the time of the fire,” Bruno said. “We got the call at 7:37 tonight, heavy smoke and fire showing from the third floor. When we arrived, we escorted and helped out two victims from the structure.”

At that time, fire crews conducted a primary search and upgraded to a first alarm and staged a second. All three occupants made it out and no injuries were reported.

Crews made quick work of the flames, extinguishing the majority of the blaze in under 30 minutes.

According to Bruno, the occupants were not squatters, but rent paying tenants. The department called Red Cross to assist.

Neighbor Steffan McBee said the building was condemned and was supposed to be vacated earlier this year. However, under a string of out-of-state owners, those responsible are hard to pin down.

Broken glass, overflowing dumpsters, illegal dumping, drugs and needles, arson, property damage and other problems have increased on his block recently, just across the street from an elementary school.

“It’s definitely gone downhill,” said McBee, a combat veteran. “When we moved here in 2016, we got to see a vast improvement in the neighborhood, but in the last six to nine months, it’s been a steady and rapidly increasing downfall of the neighborhood.”

According to City records, the building is currently owned by Wref II LLC out of Parkland, Fla. On March 17, a dangerous building case was opened following a fire. The property was boarded up on May 1, 2022.