FOUR ESCAPE BURNING HOUSE AFTER FIRE SPOTTED

Four Cape Girardeau residents escaped injury late Tuesday when a passerby spotted flames and awakened them in time to flee from their burning house at 1101 Jefferson.

"There are four lucky people," a firefighter later said. The house - described by firefighters as a total loss - did not have any operating smoke detectors.

The fire alarm was received at 11:42 p.m. Fire Stations 1 and 2 responded to the fire call.

Capt. Ron Kistner said the fire began in the vicinity of the kitchen stove. He said a fire was accidentally left on under an aluminum skillet containing food. Kistner said the skillet and contents were ignited by the stove.

The fire quickly spread to the rest of the kitchen. By the time firefighters arrived, the one-story, wood-frame structure was fully involved in flames and smoke.

Kistner said the fire had a good head start because everyone inside was asleep.

The house was owned by W.R. Withers and Mike Carlton. The tennet was listed as Sue Hunter. The names of the occupants were unavailable.