Employee treated for smoke inhalation; cause of fire undetermined
A fire at the Hopshop Antiques store in downtown Platte City had billows of smoke coming out the shop’s front door Friday, July 9 and created an estimated $10,000 in damages and resulted in an employee being treated for smoke inhalation.
Hopshop Antiques is located at 309-313 Main Street, across from the Platte County Courthouse. The store is owned/operated by Larry Newman, who was out of town at the time of the fire, which was called in at 3 p.m.
The store was open for business on the day of the fire. Sgt. Mike Mand with the Platte City Police Department said an employee had left the shop for food and upon arriving back observed a fire on the east wall of the store.
“That employee was transported to the hospital to be checked for smoke inhalation,” Mand said.
Mand was one of the first to respond after the fire call came into the dispatch at the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.
“Prior to my arrival, the employee and officers/chief from the Ferrelview Police Department, who were eating at Las Cabanas (a Mexican restaurant a couple of businesses down from the antique store) assisted in attempting to extinguish the fire. Las Cabanas and Cohen’s Art and Framing (next door to the antique store) provided extinguishers to them,” Mand explained.
Mand said when he arrived he assisted with his fire extinguisher until the Central Platte Fire Department arrived on scene and fully extinguished the blaze.
Brett Lemons, deputy fire chief for Central Platte Fire District, said the cause of the fire has been classified as “undetermined.” Lemons said the damage caused by the fire is estimated at $8,000 to $10,000.
Lemons reported that 12 Central Platte personnel responded to the scene and six pieces of equipment were involved in the response.
A sign posted on the Hopshop front door this week notes the shop is “closed till further notice due to fire.”
A Landmark video of the fire scene can be viewed on the newspaper’s Facebook page at Platte County Landmark.