Authorities investigate pair of suspicious fires

Local police, firefighters and the state fire marshal's office are investigating a pair of suspicious fires that occurred late Tuesday and early Wednesday in Cape Girardeau.

Authorities found signs of forced entry at both houses, and the point of origin of each fire appeared suspicious, said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"We'll just say that the way that the fire appeared to be started seemed to be suspicious in nature," Hickey said.

Both houses were unoccupied when the fires broke out, said Brad Dillow, battalion chief of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

No one was physically injured, Dillow said, but the second fire consumed many of artist Mark Farmer's original pen-and-ink drawings.

Local artist Craig Thomas works to salvage an original carbon and colored pencil sketch from his friend Mark Farmer's house, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014. Farmer's Cape Girardeau house along with a large collection of his original artwork, prints and artwork from other artists were damaged in a fire early Wednesday morning. A lot of the pieces were wet, frozen and singed. (Laura Simon)

"My life's work is gone," said Farmer, who owns the house at 1704 Big Bend Road where firefighters responded to a blaze about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon, Farmer said he had been in Kennett, Mo., closing on his late parents' home, and had not yet seen the damage.

Farmer said he was glad to sell his parents' house, which had been on the market more than a year, but the timing was unfortunate.

"I could have lived there," he said.

Friend and fellow artist Craig Thomas spent Wednesday trying to salvage as much of Farmer's work as possible.

"There's still artwork that needs to be gone through, but it's frozen from the water from the firemen," said Thomas, who owns the Black Door Gallery in Cape Girardeau.

Thomas and Farmer were concerned because the computer where Farmer stored backup images of his work seemed to be missing.

"I had over 3,000 drawings on my hard drive," Farmer said. " ... I should have had it backed up. Who'd think that someone's going to break in and burn the house down?"

When firefighters arrived at Farmer's two-story home, fire and smoke already were visible on both floors, and part of the second story collapsed, hampering efforts to extinguish the blaze, Dillow reported.

The fire at Farmer's home was the second in the span of six hours.

Just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters received a call about an alarm sounding at 408 N. Louisiana Ave., Dillow reported.

By the time they arrived, fire was visible in a window on the south side of the house, and moderate smoke was coming from the rest of the structure, but they extinguished the blaze quickly and remained on the scene for three and a half hours, Dillow reported.

Hickey said authorities are investigating whether the two fires are connected.

"You have two suspicious fires in one evening. You've got to take a look at it to see if they are [related]. ... We'll investigate them individually while still keeping that possibility in mind," he said.

Southeast Hospital owns the single-story house on Louisiana Avenue and uses it to provide lodging for long-term patients' families, Dillow said.

Each house had approximately $45,000 worth of damage, he reported.

The Scott City and Jackson fire departments provided mutual aid on both fires.

Farmer said for the time being, he is trying to focus on practicalities: moving his rescued artwork into storage, rounding up tools and materials and securing the house.

"I've got work to do, and I'll cry later," he said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

408 N. Louisiana Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO

1704 Big Bend Road, Cape Girardeau, MO