Context: The attached video initially aired on Sept. 20, 2026.
GRANDVIEW PLAZA (KSNT) – Kansas fire officials say the fire alarm system at a local apartment complex failed to activate after lightning reportedly struck the building and sparked a fire last weekend, displacing dozens of people.
Lance Feyh with the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office said in a press release that fire authorities and federal partners are continuing to investigate a major fire at the Geary Estates apartment complex that broke out around 6 p.m. on Sept. 19 during a bout of severe storms. He said the fire, which was reportedly ignited by a lightning strike, caused extensive damage to the apartment complex, rendering 36 units uninhabitable.
Feyh said the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office received numerous reports from residents and first responders that the structure’s commercial fire detection and alarm system failed to activate during the fire. Residents reported that while battery-powered smoke alarms inside their apartments alerted them to the fire, hard-wired smoke detectors connected to the building’s fire alarm system did not trigger an alarm.
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Staff at a fire alarm monitoring company reported that 11 fire alarm systems at the apartment complex, including the system serving the building that caught on fire, sent “trouble signals” to the monitoring center at 5:40 p.m. that night. Feyh said the first call to 911 came in at 5:48 p.m.
Feyh said first responders arriving at the scene notified dispatchers the fire alarm was not sounding despite multiple reports of people activating fire alarms around the complex during evacuations. He also said the fire alarm monitoring center didn’t get an alarm signal from the building at any point on the night of the fire.
The trouble signals were recorded as a severe thunderstorm with damaging winds and frequent cloud-to-ground lightning passed through the area. Feyh said their timing and volume suggest the complex may have experienced an electrical power disruption.
Records show the fire alarm company last inspected the Geary Estates fire alarm system in November 2025. At that time, Feye said a technician reported both backup batteries serving the fire alarm system had failed and needed to be replaced. Additional records show more than 50 other backup batteries for fire life safety systems in the complex also failed inspection last year.
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State fire inspectors examining the system after the fire found batteries connected to the fire alarm system were marked “11/25Fail” in black marker.
Feyh said these backup batteries provide a secondary power source to a fire detection and alarm system when normal electrical power is interrupted. He said the Kansas Fire Prevention Code requires this secondary supply of power, including batteries, to be inspected regularly.
“Fire alarm systems are life-safety systems, and backup power exists for exactly the kind of circumstance that can occur during a severe storm,” said State Fire Marshal Mark Engholm. “When an inspection identifies failed batteries, those deficiencies need to be corrected. Required testing and maintenance help ensure the system will continue protecting residents when normal electrical power is lost.”
Feyh said the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office also has yet to find any documentation showing the required semi-annual inspection and testing of the system’s secondary power supply and backup batteries had been completed following the inspection in November last year.
“The reports that some residents’ individual smoke alarms activated are an important reminder of the value of working smoke alarms,” Engholm said. “But individual smoke alarms are not a substitute for a required building fire alarm system. Every component of that system has to be maintained and ready to perform when it is needed.”
The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office and Grandview Plaza Fire Department continue to investigate the fire. Investigators are working to determine whether the other fire alarm systems serving the other Geary Estates complex structures are operating properly and have received the required testing, maintenance and inspection.
Feyh said investigators have not determined whether enforcement action or penalties are warranted. A review remains ongoing.
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