Fire destroys rental property in Scott City

A residential fire resulted in total property loss last week in Scott City.

At 10:48 p.m. Jan. 13, the Scott City Fire Department responded to a report of a possible attic fire at a rental home.

"When we arrived on scene, we had heavy fire coming from the back, what we call BC, corner (back left corner)," interim fire chief Shawn Jackson said, "and we had heavy smoke showing from the attic eaves."

According to Jackson, the fire originated in the laundry/kitchen area of the house, spread throughout the walls and up into the attic. The cause of the fire is unknown, however, Jackson suspects it to have been an electrical fire.

"We believe that's what it is because he (the tenant) also stated he had a lot of electrical problems right before this happened," Jackson said. "With as much damage as there was in the BC corner it was really hard to tell, but that's what we're suspecting it was because there's nothing else around there really except electrical."

Scott City fire crews battle a blaze at a rental property on Jan. 13.Submitted

The blaze caused an estimated $180,000 in damage, and the property was deemed a total loss.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department provided mutual aid assistance.

A family member of the house's tenants is asking for donations to help replace their belongings as they did not have renter's insurance. Donations may be made in person at Scott City's Dollar General and City Hall, and online at www.gofundme.com/f/complete-loss-fire?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer.