Abandoned, burned mobile home under Kansas City bridge has been removed

A Jackson County crew has removed an abandoned mobile home that had been destroyed by fire last week from underneath a Kansas City bridge, according to a news release from the county.

The cleanup crew removed the mobile home and debris Tuesday from under the 23rd Street bridge over Manchester Trafficway.

The mobile home had been bought and removed by a third party on June 12 from the former Heart Village mobile park. The people who had lived in the home at the mobile home park had found new housing in March, county officials said.

“Illegal dumping is one of the most serious issues plaguing many neighborhoods throughout Jackson County,” said County Executive Frank White Jr. said in the release. “In less than 24 hours, our team was able to mobilize and abate this situation before more harm was done to the community.”

The county has offered its assistance to Kansas City in finding those responsible for abandoning the mobile home and holding them accountable, he said.

Kansas City officials became aware of the abandoned mobile home after it caught fire and firefighters were sent to extinguish the blaze last week.

A city illegal dumping investigator was at the site on Monday trying to determine how the home ended up under the bridge. A nearby business reported that the trailer had been there for weeks and that people were living in it when it caught fire. It was unclear who those people were, a city spokesman said.

Jackson County bought and closed the nearby Heart Village to make way for a new county jail, which is expected to cost around $260 million. The county said in May that it had spent $2.5 million to help residents relocate.