Ft . Scott Fire
“ Fire in the Heartland ” a fire ravaged the historic downtown of Ft . Scott . Eleven buildings burned , some of them over 140 years old . KAIA member , Gross Insurance Agency , insured eight of the 11 buildings . Jake Gross - the agency ’ s owner and a volunteer firefighter - was called into action . He had no idea at the time his agency would handle the largest disaster to affect the agency from its humble beginning in 1913 !
The fire started in the basement of a Main Street bar and took over three days to fully extinguish . More than 20 fire departments from Kansas and Missouri battled the blaze . The National Guard even dropped water by helicopter to fight the fire . It was estimated the fire caused over $ 10 million dollars in damage .
58 Kansas Association of Insurance Agents