Child Dies In Apartment FIre: No Detectors Found

Kansas City, Mo. – A little girl died and a baby was badly injured in a fire today on Kansas City's northeast side.

Fire officials found not one working smoke alarm in the apartment, located above a commercial business near Independence Avenue and Prospect.

Battallion Fire Chief Joe Vitale says the mother and another man escaped with serious injuries.

"One (of the victims) was toddler age. Less than five. The other was an infant. The toddler has since passed. The infant is in critical condition."

Chief Vitale points out that the fire department will install smoke detectors without charge, if asked. No one asked.

Investigators say they may not be able to establish a cause of the blaze.

Crew of a fire truck in the neighborhood saw flames and went to work even as alarms were being called in by others, but Vitale says it was still too late to save the life of the girl, who was between one and three years old.