CAPE FIRE KILLS THREE; ANOTHER CRITICALLY HURT

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Three people were killed and another critically injured in a house fire early Friday morning that has been described as the worst residential fire here in 46 years.

The fire gutted a 2-story, wood-frame home at 731 N. Spanish.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter identified the victims as Linda Terry, 18, and her stepsister, Lisa Probst, 16, both of whom lived in the house, and Ruby Simmons, 18, of Flat River.

He said all three died of smoke inhalation.

The parents of the two stepsisters, James and Frances Probst, also were at home at the time of the fire.

Simmons was a relative who was staying with the family at the time, the coroner said.

Terry was a senior and Lisa Probst was a sophomore at Cape Central High School.

Their father, James Probst, was listed in critical condition Friday afternoon as he was being transferred by medical helicopter from Southeast Missouri Hospital to the burn center at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. A Barnes spokesperson said late Saturday afternoon that Probst's condition was guarded.

Frances Probst was treated for smoke inhalation and released.

Paul Probst, James Probst's brother, was staying with the family and was asleep on a front-room couch when the fire broke out. He was not injured.

Fire Chief Gene Hindman said the bodies of the three teenagers were found in separate upstairs bedrooms. It appeared all three had tried to escape from the thick smoke and heat, he said.

Hindman said neighbors to the south and northeast of the burning house were awakened around 4:30 a.m. by the sound of breaking glass.

The chief said the fire call was received at 4:31 a.m. The caller reported that flames were shooting out of the first- and second-floor windows, with heavy smoke coming out from under the eves of the roof.

Firefighters arrived three minutes later to find the entire house engulfed in flames and smoke.

Hindman said that after learning there were people trapped in the burning house, two firefighters attempted to enter the house through the back door and climb a staircase leading to the upstairs bedrooms.

But the chief said they were forced back by the intense heat and smoke, and a staircase that was nearly blocked with boxes, clothing and other debris.

"We tried to get into the second-floor bedrooms with ladders, but the intense heat and smoke was too much," said Hindman, noting that by that time the front staircase had been completely engulfed in flames.

Hindman said Paul Probst told him he was awakened by heavy smoke in the living room. "He got up, shouted at his brother and started running from the living room back toward the rear of the house," the fire chief said. "He ran out the kitchen door, got some fresh air, then went back in and woke up his brother and sister-in-law."

Hindman said the two brothers escaped out the kitchen door, then realized Frances Probst was still in the smoke-filled house. Paul Probst went back into the kitchen where he managed to find the woman on the floor and pulled her to safety out the back door.

Hindman said that James Probst then apparently ran around to the front of the house to try to go upstairs to rescue the three teenagers. Probst was critically burned while trying to go up the blazing staircase, the fire chief said.

Hindman said Paul Probst told him the teenagers had gone to bed around 10 p.m. Thursday, while the adults had gone to bed about 1 a.m. Friday.

At first, it was believed the fire might have started around a natural gas space heater, located along the north wall of the front living room. But Hindman later said the fire apparently started in the front foyer of the house.

"We believe it may have been caused by an overloaded electrical circuit in a wall switch in the foyer, or a lighted cigarette that may have been dropped on a love seat in the foyer that was stacked with boxes, papers and other flammable material," the chief said. "Because of the extent of fire damage, we'll probably never know exactly which it was."

Hindman said the house was not equipped with smoke detectors.

"Records show our firefighters canvassed the 700 block of North Spanish and offered to install smoke detectors without charge in the homes," he said.

"The house across the street and the residence on the south side of the Probst house had them installed," said Hindman. "But for some reason or another, it appears they (the Probst family) refused to allow our people to install the detectors in their house. This is the real tragedy of the fire."

Hindman maintained that smoke detectors would have prevented the tragedy.

Friday's fire is believed to have been the worst residential fire in Cape Girardeau since 1945. According to Southeast Missourian records, three young brothers died of injuries after a mid-morning fire swept through their house in the 1400 block of Wayne Street on Jan. 24, 1945.

A former Cape Girardeau firefighter, who was among the firefighters who responded to the Wayne Street fire, said he believed Friday's fire was the first triple-fatality fire in the city since 1945.

On May 13, 1972, Vaughn Craine of Cape Girardeau and Katherine Siebert of Scott City died in an early morning house fire at 123 S. Pacific Street.

Since that time, there have a been a number of single-fatality fires in the city.

A fire department spokesman said Friday's fire was the first fatal blaze in Cape Girardeau in at least three years.