Cape firefighters battle house fire on West End Boulevard

Firefighters are on the scene at West End Boulevard where fire extensively damaged a home.

No one was home when the fire began in the one-and-a-half story house at 307 S. West End Blvd. The department received a report of flames visible in the windows of the top floor of the house around 5:45 p.m.

Crews arrived to find flames showing and extinguished the fire in around 20 minutes, Cape Girardeau fire chief Rick Ennis said.

Neighbors who gathered around the scene worried the resident was at home at the time of the fire because he often keeps irregular hours and drives several vehicles, they said.

Ennis said the fire appeared to have started in the southwest corner of the first floor of the house, but the cause was unknown and the fire department would conduct an investigation. The fire gutted the first floor, and Ennis said the top floor and basement also sustained some damage.

West End Boulevard between William Street and Bloomfield Road remains closed while crews work the scene.

Pertinent address:

Crews with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department fight a house fire at 307 S. West End Blvd., Tuesday, June 6, 2012. (Laura Simon)

307 S. West End Blvd., Cape Girardeau, MO