Will Your Fire Hydrant Be Ready When You Need It? FOX4 Investigates Home Fire Safety

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Upon entering, the house appears ravaged and somber, with its walls covered in tarps and remnants of once-familiar furnishings. It’s clear at first glance—this place has been hit by a calamity.

However, it wasn't always this way. For two years, student and budding artist Stephanie Thomas along with her partner Chris referred to it as their abode.

Next came April 11, 2025. Around 10 p.m., Stephanie found herself on the front porch.

“She mentioned that she was letting some of her art pieces air-dry.”

At the same time, within the house, Chris and a few of his buddies had barely concluded their dinner.

He mentioned that him and his buddies were all in the kitchen enjoying themselves,

The next moment I realize, smoke is billowing from the ventilation duct.

Before the couple realized, their home was being consumed by a rapidly spreading blaze.

"I can't figure out how there was so much smoke so quickly," Stephanie remarked.

I attempted to go back to get a fire extinguisher, but I couldn't even manage to reach the kitchen.

Afterward, the Kansas City Fire Department arrived and jumped into action. The pair felt optimistic. Nonetheless, this optimism faded fast.

Chris stated, "The next thing I knew, they told me they had run out of water."

I glance upward, and they say, 'We have no more water,' and I respond with, 'What?'

Firefighters frequently transport water using vehicles known as "water trucks," yet this supply doesn’t last indefinitely. Therefore, relying on nearby fire hydrants is typically the most effective approach. Of course, this assumes that the hydrants are functioning properly.

In relation to the situation, the nearest fire hydrant to Stephanie and Chris' residence on N. Lydia Avenue was over 500 feet distant. However, when the firefighters located it, they discovered that it was lying on its side and damaged.

So they attempted another hydrant located further away. However, that one did not function as well. With each passing minute, the fire intensified.

Ultimately, the firefighters hooked up to an operational hydrant at 38th and Wayne – more than

A thousand feet away from the blazing house. By then, it had become impossible to rescue it.

Chris stated, “We were almost within reach of achieving all our goals in life.”

He mentioned that the firefighters also felt sad about it, with one of them even apologizing.

Chris mentioned that the firefighter informed him they could have salvaged at least some of the couple's possessions if the fire hydrant had functioned properly.

When FOX4 requested the fire incident report, we observed an unusual occurrence.

There wasn't even a hint about fire hydrants, let alone the detail that these were defective ones. The statement simply read:

Pumper 06 accessed the structure via the basement entrance, identified the blaze in the home’s cellar, and effectively put out the flames.

More troubling yet, one month following the incident, FOX4 discovered that the initially damaged hydrant remained non-functional.

"Why hasn't this been resolved?" Chris questioned.

He informed FOX4 that he was astonished the issue had not been resolved. Nevertheless, this kind of situation isn't new to our region.

The previous year, a malfunctioning fire hydrant obstructed firefighters as they tried to extinguish a fire at the intersection of 42nd and Jackson.

In 2022, a malfunctioning fire hydrant hindered attempts to extinguish a house fire in the Northland due to lack of repairs.

In addition, in 2022, a "dry" hydrant hindered firefighters from extinguishing a blaze on 58th Street.

Even with all these issues, Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins from the Kansas City Fire Department states that hydrant failures are "not a common occurrence for us" on a daily basis.

He roughly calculates that among around 26,000 fire hydrants in the city, nearly all—about 99%—are functional.

"I would assert that for that specific occurrence, it was clearly a problem," Hopkins stated.

In the grand scheme of things and with regard to our daily activities and the number of emergencies we respond to, this issue is relatively minor.

Hopkins mentioned that the KCFD informed KC Water about the damaged fire hydrants following the blaze at Stephanie and Chris’s residence in April, as KC Water typically handles most of the repair work for fire hydrants.

The Problem Solvers found out that the water department had been informed of the first damaged fire hydrant back in December 2024.

KC Water subsequently categorized it as a low-priority issue.

Not until May 2025 did KC Water ultimately address and repair that particular hydrant, following both the fire incident and our discussions with Chris and Stephanie.

FOX4 sought comments from Kansas City Water Services' Water Director Kenneth Morgan regarding the postponement.

He mentioned that the fire hydrant was slated for replacement,

The fire hydrant directly next to that residence was non-functional, however, there was another functional hydrant nearby that could be utilized for the firefighting activities that occurred. So, it wasn’t as though there were hardly any available.

This leads us back to Chris and Stephanie, who are presently staying at a friend's place.

“She essentially has only the clothes on her back,” she mentioned.

However, her primary concern lies with the broader issue and the potential threat to other homeowners in Kansas City.

"Take action before someone else gets harmed," Stephanie urged the city, emphasizing their duty to act.

We were fortunate that we all managed to leave this place unharmed, but the same may not be true for the next group.

The prior legislation in Missouri mandated an annual inspection for each fire hydrant within the local water system.

In August 2024, the state law regarding hydrant inspections was modified to adopt less stringent criteria, now requiring "periodic testing of each hydrant within the local water supply network."

KCFD along with KC Water confirmed that "almost all" of the hydrants in our region function properly.

In March, however, FOX4 asked for five years' worth of city fire hydrant inspection records.

The city government responded with one postponement following another, along with assertions of disarray on their end, statements claiming they had no documentation of the inspections, and even unjustified refusals of several record request submissions we made.

Ultimately, on Tuesday — over two months since we initially submitted our request — the city sent us an email containing some hydrant data, though it wasn’t sufficient for conducting our analysis.

Nevertheless, FOX4 will keep investigating and digging until they provide you with an answer.

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