FOB MAKES BURNING HOME HARD TO FIND

Before the week started, a Cape Girardeau County family had two healthy children and a home of their own. Now one child is hospitalized with an as yet undiagnosed illness and their home has burned to the ground.

While Edward and Jennifer Coomer were at Southeast Missouri Hospital Tuesday waiting for their 1-year-old daughter's fever to break, a fire started at their one-story home near Randles, Mo.

"I went back home with our two-year-old son late last night so we could go to sleep while my wife stayed at the hospital," Edward Coomer said. "Then I find wall to wall fire trucks in front of my house."

A man driving past called on his cellular phone about 10:30 p.m. to report the fire on County Road 274, said John Sachen of the Delta Fire Department.

Firefighters would have arrived sooner, but heavy fog forced them to drive more slowly, and prevented residents from pinpointing the source of smoke.

"People said they had smelled smoke for some time, but they didn't call because they couldn't tell where it was coming from," Sachen said.

Twenty-two firefighters from Delta, Advance, Oran, Whitewater and Gordonville responded with three fire engines and three tanker trucks. About 60 percent of the house was in flames when firefighters arrived.

"It had been smoldering for some time," Sachen said. "Afterward we found the windows inside were tarred and smoky."

Firefighters attempted to save two rooms that were not yet on fire, but it was too late.

"They lost everything in the house," Sachen said.

Although the cause of the fire is undetermined, the Coomers had been using two electric heaters to keep their house warm instead of a liquid propane tank, Sachen said.

Edward Coomer had left his home for the hospital on Monday with his 1-year-old daughter after she lost her appetite and began running a high fever.

"I thought we'd be back home that day," he said.

Instead, doctors chose to keep the infant hospitalized.

The Coomers have taken turns staying with their ill daughter and caring for their son.

Without a home, they plan to stay either at the hospital or with grandparents in Cape Girardeau, Edward Coomer said. The couple had lived in the house since 1997, but Edward Coomer said his father bought it in the early 1970s.

He said they had no fire insurance, and almost no possessions left.

"I've received some clothes from close family members so far, but that's all," he said.

Edward Coomer took his wife and son back to their house briefly on Wednesday to look at the damage. They didn't stay long.

"I couldn't look at it," he said, starting to cry

HOW TO HELP

Donations of clothing or nay other items for the Coomer family are being accepted by the Randles General Baptist Church. Donations may be left at the church, or contact Deacon Tom Moore for more information at 573-794-2521.