Cape firefighters rescue two residents in burning apartment

Firefighters with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department rescued two people who were trapped in an apartment Saturday during a house fire on William Street.

According to deputy fire chief Randy Morris, firefighters responded to a call from neighbors reporting smoke at about 8 a.m. When firefighters arrived at the two-story home at 821 William St., which had been converted into six apartments, two residents who couldn’t exit the building because of smoke in the hallway were seen hanging out of a window.

“It became evident on their arrival that there were two people trapped on the upper floor,” Morris said. “They were hanging out the window, so they immediately laddered. We call it rescue mode, we go into rescue mode, and were able to get those victims out of the window via a ground ladder.”

After making the rescue, firefighters evacuated other residents who were in the building, and were able to extinguish the fire within 20 minutes.

The fire, Morris said, was caused by an unattended candle, and caused an estimated $37,000 in property damage. No one was injured.

“They were able to contain this in a short amount of time, so that was really good,” Morris said. “They did have detectors present within the building. Those were working at the time. On our side, it was a really good, quick knock down of the fire, which makes everything else go better. We’re glad to see that folks are keeping their detectors and everything up and going, having fresh batteries and checking them occasionally to make sure things are working, because in this case it paid off.”