Careless ‘smoking materials’ lead to early morning fire

Improperly disposed of smoking materials are believed to have ignited a structure fire early Monday morning in Cape Girardeau, according to a Cape Girardeau Fire Department official.

A fire report from the incident stated firefighters were called at 3:39 a.m. for a structure fire at 905 S. Ellis St., battalion chief Randy Morris Jr. wrote.

Morris described the call as a “relatively small fire” and said the blaze remained contained to its point of origin in the bedroom where the mattress caught fire.

Firefighters extinguished the fire within 5 minutes of their arrival by taking the involved mattress outside and deploying a water extinguisher, according to the fire report.

No one was injured in the incident, which caused about $1,000 in property damage, Morris said, but the report did not state whether the structure was occupied at the time of the fire.

“Take notice of where you’re disposing of smoking materials, if you can,” Morris advised members of the public. “Take them outside — someplace away from the building, where nothing else can catch on fire.”