Northland apartment residents concerned after two fires in less than a month

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some residents at the Bennington Ridge Apartment complex in the Northland are concerned after two buildings caught fire in less than a month.

One building was extensively damaged early Tuesday. Five apartment units were affected.

Some residents are concerned about safety and other maintenance issues that could potentially cause a hazard if not addressed.

“I have gone to the office the day after each fire and tried to talk to them,” said Bennington Ridge resident Hunter Spano. “Today, they were closed when we went. I don’t think they open until noon today. The first (fire) time, they just told us, ‘It was a grill. Don’t worry about it.’”

Spano moved into the Bennington Ridge Apartments two months ago. He said the ceiling in his unit has been leaking ever since and has yet to be repaired despite maintenance requests.

“They marked it this morning as they came and repaired it. It doesn’t look repaired to me,” Spano explained. “They said they came and repaired it about a month ago, marked it as repaired. We came and let them know it wasn’t repaired. Then, this morning at 10 a.m. they marked it as repaired again, still not repaired. “

Spano worries about the two building fires and the response from property managers.

“I would really like to see our property manager or our landlord show up for one of these fires—for both of them. We haven’t had access to a property manager,” Spano said. “They haven’t emailed us to reassure us that another building isn’t going to burn down and that they’re doing investigations. We want to see that maybe they take it seriously and don’t try to brush it under the rug.”

“I do have a worry that there’s a negligence going on with apartment repairs and stuff,” Spano said. “The buildings may be a little too old and may need some more repairs. It’s scary to think about.”

The fire early Tuesday affected five apartment units . KCFD ordered the Red Cross for four adults living there.

Earlier this month, FOX4 confirmed that residents affected by the apartment fire on June 27 were given only days to move out . Their leases were also terminated.

FOX4 stopped by the leasing office Tuesday afternoon to get answers from on-site property managers. We were told, “No comment at this time.”

The Bennington Ridge apartment complex is managed by Elevate Living in Minnesota. We’ve contacted them about the fires and other concerns, but we haven’t received a response yet.

“I want to see this place improve, and I just want to make sure people are safe,” Spano explained.

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