Cause of apartment blaze still under investigation

Fire investigators sifted through the shell of a second-floor apartment on Sprigg Street Friday but weren't ready to name the cause of the blaze.

"It might be awhile," Cape Girardeau fire chief Rick Ennis said.

The fire, discovered by Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Rick Price while on routine patrol Thursday, gutted the uninhabited apartment at 419 S. Sprigg St. While on the scene helping firefighters Thursday, Price was approached by owner Debra Hamilton, who said she had called police for help to ward off intruders who were using an empty apartment.

Police, however, have no record of such a call, Sgt. Barry Hovis said Friday.

An extensive review, going back a year, of calls that generated a police response showed no contacts with Hamilton regarding trespassers or squatters, Hovis said. There were also no entries in the past month in the book police use to alert officers of locations in town needing special attention.

"If we had sent an officer, there would be a call history," Hovis said.

The property is a former home converted into three apartments. Only one apartment was rented at the time of the fire.

Price, after calling in the blaze, attempted to enter the upstairs apartment before firefighters arrived to rescue anyone trapped but was unable to do so because of heat, Hovis said. He then sought to alert anyone in the downstairs apartment, first encountering the girlfriend of the tenant who said a dog was trapped in the apartment, Hovis said. The tenant, Robert Jackson, then arrived and along with Price, entered the apartment, where Price found the dog, Fluffy.

At the scene, Jackson said he had heard noises regularly coming from the upstairs apartment.

Police are always willing to help landlords remove unwanted people from their property, Hovis said. If someone is committing a crime, they can be charged with burglary. If they are just seeking shelter, he said, they can be charged with trespassing.

Police have dealt with people seeking to live in vacant houses and others just hanging out at apartment buildings, Hovis said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126