© Nima Shaffe/KCTV5OLATHE, KS (KCTV) -
An investigation is ongoing after a vacant house in Olathe was heavily damaged during a fire Tuesday morning.
An Olathe Police Department officer on patrol saw smoke just before 5 a.m. He followed the smoke and discovered the home at 221 S. Central St. was on fire. The smoke was visible up to a mile away.
The garage was fully engulfed, and flames were shooting from the roof. Firefighters needed about 20 minutes to get the flames under control. They needed a couple of hours to clear out all the hot spots and clear out debris.
Heat from the flames melted the vinyl siding on a side of a neighboring home.
A firefighter was treated at an area hospital after receiving a back injury while battling the fire. The injury is considered minor.
The cause of the blaze and a damage estimate have not been released.
The neighborhood is just west of Interstate 35 just a few blocks south of West 135th Street.
Neighbors said a bank recently foreclosed on the home and that the homeowner left in June in a recreational vehicle to travel the United States.
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