Firefighters respond to bedroom fire at Cape apartment complex

Tenants of an apartment complex on South Lorimier Street were evacuated from their homes just before 7 p.m. Thursday, after a third-floor bedroom caught fire.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department sent four trucks, including its ladder truck, to 212 S. Lorimier St. to fight the blaze. Heavy smoke and flames were visible from a third-floor apartment window.

Building manager Shawn Cowling said he was told a tenant left his apartment briefly to get a cigarette from a friend on another floor and when he returned his child had started a fire with a lighter.

The apartment is home to two adults and four children, he said. Cowling wasn't sure at the time how many tenants lived in the complex, although there are 12 apartments in the building.

Firefighters had the fire under control by around 7:30 p.m. and emergency medical technicians were on scene in case any tenants needed medical attention. No one appeared to be injured.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

212 S. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau MO