A man died in a fire Wednesday at a former motel along the Kearney Street alignment of Route 66 in Springfield, Mo., according to news reports.
James Martin Steffens, 51, died as a result of smoke inhalation. According to the Springfield News-Leader, the fire was caused by careless smoking in his room at the Rancho Court Apartments at 1544 E. Kearney St.
Video at the fire scene can be seen at KSPR-TV here. An earlier version of the News-Leader story said the unit sustained some interior damage, but wasn’t gutted.
One tragic part of the story:
Fire marshal Phil Noah said a smoke detector had been found in the room, but that it didn’t have a battery.
“A working smoke detector might have saved this gentleman,” Noah said.
Villines said it’s not uncommon for people to remove batteries from smoke detectors out of annoyance in some scenarios, like if the person is a smoker who often sets off the alarm.
A Google Street View image of the motel can be seen here. This is not the Ranch Motel/Court, which is less than a mile to the east. The Rancho Court Apartments has not offered overnight stays for some time.
(Hat tip: Tonya Pike)
For those who might have trouble distinguishing which Rancho Court operation this was, this fire was at the one that is the rock cottages. It was originally the Trail’s End Motel.